Film opening- final cut

Evaluation

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
During the preliminary task I firstly learnt to work as a team and co-operate as a group in order to work together well. I learnt that there is a process of certain tasks that you must do in order to produce the film, such as planning, storyboard, shot list, and script. I learnt the basics of it all to get started and to gain some knowledge and practise of it such as setting up the camera, using different lenses to film different shots, for example: close up shot; mid shot; long shot. I also learnt how to upload and import the video to the Mac and use final cut pro to edit the film by re-arranging the order of clips and cutting them shorter. It was all new and interesting to learn, however that was just the basics, I have learnt a lot more since then leading up to the full product.

From the preliminary task, I took my experience of working in a team and applying it to the process of working on the full product which helped as each of us in the group had a role to play and to work together in order to listen to each other. I learnt to draw a storyboard in more detail than the one which was done in the preliminary task, to make a detailed shot list and to write a screenplay instead of a script as we did not have anyone speaking in our film, but we still needed to write a screenplay of our film which included the screen directions. Even though we used the camera and lenses in the preliminary task, we developed our use of using the different camera lenses for the full product, meaning that we used a variety shots such as, extreme close up shot of eyes, tilt up, pan shot, long shot, which had been developed as we did not use many of these shots in the preliminary task. I also learnt to use the tripod and practise using the steadicam whilst testing different ways to shoot certain shots.

Personally, I learnt a lot more within the process of editing the film. As a group we used final cut pro, like we did in the preliminary task but we used it to do a lot more and advanced editing. I learnt how to edit certain scenes to create an effect which affects and changes the mood of the film for example, we put a black and white effect on a flashback scene in our film, we changed the lighting of it and put an effect on which created a 'hazy' look. I also learnt to colour grade our film, which could edit the colour of the scene, as we had to make the shade of the colours slightly darker as it was too bright, therefore we colour graded it to do so. I learnt how to put titles in the film, changing the font, size, colour and position of the text and how it would appear on screen, this was different to when we were editing our preliminary task as we did not put any titles in the film. In the preliminary task, we did not use any music, however with out full product we did, so I learnt to import music on final cut pro and to change the levels of sounding. When editing our full product, I also learnt to insert transitions within the scenes so it would flow and look effective. Overall, there was a great deal of development and improvement on certain skills and learning how to do more within filming and editing.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Within the filming process, I learnt how to put the camera together by choosing the correct lens of the camera and fitting it with the actual camera itself, and also connecting the microphone to the camera.

                                                                                                                                              

We used a canon camera which was very effective when filming, the quality of the film was very clear through out and certain objects could be focused by adjusting the focus of the lens on the camera to make it look more in depth and the background out of focus. 

I learnt that to put the lens and camera together, you had to find the red dot on the camera, in order to match it up with the red dot on the lens

Then you have to match the lens with camera following the red dot as a guideline

Then twist the lens which will make a 'click' when you know that it is fully attached

In order to take the lens off when finished filming, there is a button on the side which you press and hold for the lens to be de-attached

So I have learnt that using this type of camera can create many different types of shot which is clear and have learnt to remember what type of lens creates a certain type of shot as only one be used for a close up, mid shot or a long shot. I have also learnt to practise and test the focus of the lens to test and change the depth of objects, foreground and background in a scene which can change the effect of the scene. Before I started the media course, I had never filmed with a high-tech camera, so I think that I have learnt a lot through the process and had the opportunity to put my thoughts into action with the use of the camera.

I also learnt how to attach the microphone boom on the camera, the microphone boom was used in order to detect the sounds within the scene such as water, wind and rustling leaves. We used it to record the sound of water, however when it came to editing, we decided to not use it as we wanted to have music (non-diegetic) play throughout the opening of the film.




The microphone boom would slide onto the silver part where it is outlined red shown on the picture on the right. You then switch the button on the on the microphone to 'on'.



I also learnt how to use the equipment appropriately:

I learnt how to use a tripod, the camera would connect to the top of the tripod, then there is a handle where you can control the angle and movement of the camera. Before I started media, I had always know what a tripod was but I had never used one, so this was something that I learnt how to use effectively in filming.

The gorilla tripod was interesting to use as it could be used to wrap around certain objects, such as a branch of a tree to get a high angle point of view. It is quite effective as the camera is stable when wrapped on an object whilst getting a clear shot.

The steadicam was used to place the camera on the top flat surface, and then you could film by holding the longer curved handle and it would film the scene without the shakiness of the camera, it would be steady and balanced.





The use of equipment helped me to develop my skills through out the process, as I learnt more and applied it to our film and therefore it has given me knowledge of what equipment is used and practice and experience of using the equipment for filming. It has also helped me know what particular equipment to use for certain shots.

I have a learnt a lot about the use of technology used within editing, the programme we used to edit our film was final cut pro. Firstly, I learnt how to import the footage and change the format of it so that it could be edited on final cut pro.

Once all of the footage was imported, I learnt how to put the footage on the timeline, to do so I had to drag the footage down and place it on the timeline. That way, I could re-arrange the order of the different scenes. After the scenes were placed in order, my group and I could then cut the scenes shorter or split a certain scene into smaller parts, for example with our flashback scene, it was originally one whole scene but we decided to split it into smaller parts so we could take each part and re-organise the order so that we could use fast cuts to fit the convention of psychological thriller which is shown below:

I then learnt how to add titles in particular scenes:

 To do this you had to:

• double click on the timeline to display the clip in the viewing window
• Then click on the button which had the 'A' letter on it
• Click text and text again
• This will then appear:

•  Click control and then you can type in your chosen title and you can then change the font, size and colour of your text

We then inserted the title of our film 'The Forgotten One'. We decided to use a simple and formal font which was 'Calisto MT', as it would be clear and easy to read and it was a similar font to some films which we looked at for research. We kept it white as it could be read easily, stand out and look formal.




Originally, the flashback scenes were in colour so I tested out some effects to make it look like a flashback. We then decided to have it in black and white and adjust the contrast to make it not look too dark or too light, this was edited by using colour corrector:

My skills then developed by learning how to change the position of the text on the screen, so you could see it on the viewing window just showing a black screen and the text, and then you can drag it into position whilst seeing it on another viewing window which shows the film and the text. The angle of the text can also be changed, however we tried it but it did not look very professional or easy to read on the screen, therefore we kept the text horizontal. I learnt that you should test certain aspects of the film to see what it will look like, as you can not know until you try it out, and if it does not look good it is fine as I tested a few different effects and I found that some worked and some did not, but I still tested it to see what the outcome would be which can help during the process of editing the film.

I learnt how to insert particular transitions within the scenes so that it flows and looks effective, it also effected the speed of the film which was slower and we wanted to create that slow and hazy/confused mood. And to add transitions for the titles was something new learnt, we added a cross dissolve to the titles as it would look professional and it was similar to some film titles which we researched, and then it would not be too fast to read as it appears and disappears on the screen.

Furthermore, once we nearly finished editing our film, we then imported our music, I learnt how to change the format of the music file as it had to be changed in order to be played in final cut pro. I learnt that the end of the music could be faded using cross dissolve:

This allowed the music to be faded at the same time as the end of the film, we did this as we wanted to make the ending not just as a straight cut, but faded as it would then go into the next scene. However, we had to make adjustments to the sound levels of the music by double clicking the music and editing it:

You can change the sound levels by moving the red dots up or down depending if you want it to be louder at one point and then quieter at another. As we wanted to fade the music, we had to align the dots starting at a high point and the gradually going down to the bottom so that the music would fade at an appropriate speed.

On the day of filming, it was quite sunny and therefore some scenes were slightly brighter which was not what we wanted as our genre was a psychological thriller. In order to portray that, we had to edit the brightness levels of the colours, to do this I learnt to use colour corrector:

By using colour corrector, we could adjust the brightness levels of the blue sky, to create a mysterious atmosphere. I also learnt how to colour grade our film, which was more specific to edit the colours of our film. 

Who would be the audience for your media product? 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As our film is a psychological thriller, it does not contain any violence or swearing and so our target audience were twelve years and older as the lead role in our film is played by a female who is sixteen years old, therefore it relates more to teenagers. Also, people younger than twelve years old would not fully understand the whole concept and meaning of the film, and at the end of the film, the main character who is played by a female commits suicide, so it would be too much for them to comprehend, therefore our film has an age classification of 12. 

Our film would be aimed at a small niche market as it is an independent film, therefore it would not be so international like Hollywood films. It is a British film, with British actors and a British location (England) so it would most likely be aimed at British viewers. Our media product represents ordinary female teenagers as the clothes that are worn are casual. The film is aimed at any gender, however, as the lead role is played by a female, so it may relate more to teenage girls. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFPWGKf9Cnk

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPwJnEq22I

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKBuElCeg18

Audience feedback

S. Sehgal (Dad):

• Great music- very appropriate to the environment and cinematography
• Images are good- possibly too quick in some camera movement, be guided more by music
• Great colours
• Concept and flashback is good
• Sense of suspense created leading to interest in what might happen after the two minutes of film

R. Sehgal (Mum):

• Interesting
• Suspense 
• Nice shot of sun reflecting on water and then moving up to the sky
• Good filming of eyes opening/flickering within the flashback scene and questioning as to what is going to happen? Who is she?
• Exciting to see what would happen next

Film opening- Editing

Throughout the process of editing our film opening, I have learnt a lot of skills and how to edit certain aspects of a film and how it is closely edited in the real film industry. We used 'Final Cut Pro' to edit our film opening. As a group we initially thought that we did not have to edit so much, we originally thought that we only had to add transitions and titles. However, this was not the case. I learnt how to re-arrange each clip, add transitions, add titles where appropriate and edit the colour on certain scenes putting the music to the film.

Firstly, we put all the scenes in the order which we thought we wanted, and we added the title of our film 'The Forgotten One' on the first scene as we thought it was an appropriate place to put it and it fitted in with the camera movement as it faded away whilst the camera position moved up to the sun. We used a simple, yet formal and effective font as we wanted it to stand out but look professional at the same time, we also used white text as most films which we researched used white text and it stands out to the audience as well as being readable. However, we changed it to a different position as we thought having the title of the film right at the beginning was quite 'abrupt' and the film had not properly started or introduced any aspect of the film yet. Therefore, we moved the title later into the film opening (23seconds in).

As a group we went through some fonts and then came to an agreement of using the font 'Calisto MT' which was clear and easy to ready, and also professional. We chose to have the size as not too big, yet not too small as we wanted it to be clearly seen and readable for the audience, and therefore we also chose to place the title in the centre of the screen and it is easy to read and identify as the title of the film. We also learnt how to put letterbox format on each scene which makes it look more professional.

As a group we took on board of our teacher's feedback throughout the process of editing, one comment which was made was to edit the colour/shade of some scenes, as we filmed when it was sunny because we did not want it to be too gloomy as we wanted it to fit with the mood of 'dazed' and 'lost'. However, the contrast of the sky from the first scene to the next was completely different. Therefore, we edited the colour of the sky in the second scene by using 'colour corrector' which enabled us to change the contrast, whiteness and the blackness of the sky in order to match it with the first scene. 

Also, our teacher suggested to re-arrange the flashback scenes, originally we put the flashback scenes in an order which came one after the other. However, we edited it in a way that we positioned them differently and we cut each bit shorter to show that it was a flashback and it would build suspense as it the pace of it was quicker. We also edited the colour to black and white by using 'colour corrector' which enabled it to look more like a flashback to the audience and enhancing the importance and significance of it.

The first scene we decided to have our production company name within a black frame, as most of the films we researched used this technique of a black frame first and it looks professional with the white, bold, clear and professional/formal font. We also decided to five seconds of the black screen and then fade in the production name as it would not be too abrupt to the audience and it looked more effective. 

We also added cross dissolve transitions to certain scenes which made it all link well and look more continuous as it flowed well, it also was effective on the mood of the film opening as it was slow and it created the enigma within each scene and fitted with the character. We also added the cross dissolve effect to the titles which we added in certain scenes. 

As a group, we originally put the text of the titles on the bottom of the screen, however we looked back at 'Man of Steel' and found that the titles were in different positions. We then experimented with the different positions we could put the titles. For example, the picture shown above, we decided to position the title on the top left corner as it was a creative way to put it there and at the same time, it was also readable and clear. 

We also learnt to import the music, we originally decided to have a straight cut at the end, however from our discussions and feedback from our teacher, we decided to have a fade on the film and a cross dissolve on the music as it would not be too abrupt and shows that it would then go into the next scene of the film so that it flows well. 

When we cross dissolved the music, it worked but it happened too fast, so as a group we learnt to change the speed levels of the cross dissolve on the music which went into detail on each bit of the music, this made it more effective. 

Research and Planning- Production Company Name

We first researched the production company names which already exist such as:

However, we wanted to have a production name similar to this production company- MIRAMAX:

It is simple with a black background and white, big, bold text which is effective and memorable/recognisable.

Therefore, as a group we tried to think and discuss our ideas of names which would be unique and effective as a production name which was also professional. We firstly thought of 'Alumination Productions', however this was quite random and it did not sound as professional as we'd hoped it to be. So, we then changed it to 'Blurred Path Productions' which was more professional and unique as a production name. We also had other ideas such as 'skyline productions', we checked if it was already an existing name and we found out that it was unfortunately already existing. Fortunately 'Blurred Path Productions' was non-existent and we chose the font to be simple yet effective and professional. 

Research and Planning- Changing the title of our film

As a group we originally agreed to have the title of our film as 'Amnesia', however with the teacher's feedback and our discussion, we thought that the title was revealing too much and telling what the film is about straight away. So we then decided to change it to 'The Forgotten One' as it does not reveal too much about the story of the film and it creates suspense to find out more through out the film.

Research and Planning- Analysis of 'Inception'

As a group we all tried to think of films with similar genre to ours, therefore we decided to analyse 'Inception' as it shares the similar genre to our film which is a psychological thriller, which includes certain elements of the film opening to create enigma which we wanted to do in our film opening.

The first scene in 'Inception' shows a close up shot of the waves in the sea which sets the scene as it showing the setting, clearly showing also that it is set on a beach. By shooting scenery, it creates enigma and that it what inspired us to do in our film.

The next scene shows a character lying on the shallow end of the beach, however it does not reveal the appearance of the whole character which creates enigma as it immediately creates questions, such as who is the character? Why is the character laying on a beach? So it already begins to create suspense for the audience in order to want to watch the rest of the film.

It then shows another character who is a little boy, yet it does not show the front of him, only the back of him which adds to the suspense and enigma.

After, it goes back to the firs character and shows a bit more of his face, this builds up the enigma as it shows a bit more of the character on each scene.

 

This shot shows more of the character's face but gradually

It then introduces another character who is a little girl, yet again, only showing the back of her

This shot shows it from the point of view from another character who is holding the gun, but not showing the character which creates the tension and suspense of to who that character is

This is a low angle shot which reveals the character who was holding the gun and showing him from the angle where the character was laying down, it also could suggest by the angle taken from the shot could show the power and authority from the character holding the gun

Point of view shot from the character holding the gun reveals that the character laying down has a gun which reveals even further information about the character laying down, but also still creates enigma as to why that character has a gun

This long shot reveals more about the setting and location 

This shot is in a way a point of view shot looking inside as the doors on the left and right are open, which adds to the suspense

This shot only shows the back of a new character so it still creates the enigma in the beginning of the film

This close up shot reveals a little bit more of the character who was laying on the beach, but not fully which adds to the mystery

Over the shoulder shot is used to still not show the character fully and it also shows the other character in the background, but he is blurred so it also does not show him fully either

The other character is then shown after

This close up shot is used to show the object, this suggests that this particular object is important in the film, but does not reveal too much about it in the opening