Evaluation of our Rough Cut by NADIA

My SMART targets by NADIA

I went to MY progress and decided on the following SMART targets shown below:

Christmas Homework by NADIA

After completing my audit, I have realised we do not have enough work on shot-lists, drafting and our storyboard. Whilst filming our title sequence we changed quite a few shots around, thus we need to update our storyboard and say why we made the changes we did. 

Looking Over Our Footage 14/12/2016

When we got back to the editing suite, we looked over the footage that we filmed. We were really happy with how the park scenes turned out because the lighting appeared to be consistent with our other shoots. However, we realised that the scenes that we filmed inside of the house were too dark to use, which means that we are going to have to re-film those parts so that we can insure our title sequence being successful!

Rough Cut 1 - Class Feedback

Rough Cut 1

Blog 17 and 29

Creation of a Soundscape

For our soundscape, we decided that we want our sequence to mainly consist of diegetic sound. We deliberately got shots close to our sounds so the camera microphone could pick it up at the time of filming. However, we also wanted to layer very quiet drone sounds in the background and a short clip of music at the beginning.

At Regent's Park we filmed a scene with the fig rig and camera close to the ground while Jessi runs past in the leaves. The sound was picked up by the camera and the footage sounds realistic and creates suspended disbelief. Also, in the bathroom scene where Jessi is washing her hands the microphone picked up the sound of the tap running. Compared with the rest of the sequence which is fast paced, this scene works as a way to slow time down. The sound of the tap running is a big contrast from the intense music and drone sounds.

For non-diegetic sound, we decided to use a non-copyrighted song. The song sounds very intense which will suit the style of the beginning of our title sequence.

The clip starts off quiet and then turns very fast paced. We will only use a snippet of this soundtrack while Jessi is in the park location. We only want an intense feeling in a few parts of the sequence (The park scenes and the very end of the sequence) so we will use the music in only a few scenes.

Another non-diegetic layer we want to add is drone sounds. Even though they are very quiet, they still add a sinister feeling into the film and keep the audience on edge.

The first clip (0:00-05:06) will suit with our title sequence. We plan to layer these sounds together to create a suitable soundscape. We would like to use wild sound of heavy breathing at the beginning but we aren't sure whether it will fit with how our sequence starts.

Filming Session 14/12/16

View on Flipagram

Filming Session 14/12/16 - Evaluation

We had to re-film at Jessi's house near Woodside Park. Luckily, everyone was able to make it to film on this day so it was easy for us to film all of the scenes that we needed. Whilst we were filming we had to re-film some parts, like the bathroom part, the key part and the living room part. We also had to film Jessi leaving the park, instead of going to Regent's Park again, we decided that it would be easier if we just filmed at a park near Jessi's house. We needed to film Jessi exiting the park so we could make our title sequence look seamless and to suspend disbelief for the viewers.

After completing the park scenes, we went to film the house scenes. We kept everything the same as the last time but we did change the part where Jessi was reading a book as we didn't think that it was interesting. We changed it to her just watching the TV, this made it a lot easier to film and it looked a realistic for our title sequence.

We also tried to make the hands appear more intense and daunting, Jessi did this by adding more blood and mud to her hands. We needed this to occur whilst she was unlocking the door and before washing the dirt off her hands.

Health Check 2

After receiving my feedback, I am still pleased with my and I do agree with my set targets. In the future, I am going to try and meet all my targets so i can get a higher grade.

Filming Session 09/12/16

On 9/12/2016 Jessi, Jubida and Jeannie had to go filming at the location of Regents Park to re-film some of the shots for our title sequence. It was necessary for us to re-film some of the shots because we needed to make our title sequence appear more dramatic and
intense as the genre of our film is a thriller.

Before we re-filmed some of the shots, our title sequence didn't appear to be a thriller as it had none of the conventions that a box office thriller film would have. However, now that we re-filmed the scenes, our group feel like we have been able to create a thriller title sequence.

Here is some proof of our group filming at Regents Park:

Updated Production Schedule

This is our updated production schedule, the table is a general guide on when particular people in the group are free or when locations like Jessi's home are cleared for us to film in. Over time, we will be marking the calendar on the days which we film on.

The editing process

   

In order to edit our footage, we used the programmes Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015 and Adobe After Effects CC 2015.

We used both these programmes to edit all our footage and create our titles. We mostly used Premiere to edit our sequence. Our editing evidence from Premier has been saved onto our had drive, into a file called Insta Shot. 

Below are some some screenshots, of the editing process:

Here we are editing our sequence in Premiere, in particular we are trying to sound layer our music.

Here we are adjusting the sound and the sound levels for our house scenes.




Here we are experimenting with the style of the titles in After Affects:

Here we are trying to add effects into the name of our film:




Here we are choosing the relevant typeface for our titles: 






This was our final title font we used, we decided to use this font as it looked very realistic and it seemed liked it would be appropriate for our thriller genre: 

Filming Session 07/12/16

On Friday 2nd December, the other three members of our group went to film the house scenes at Jeannie's house. When we had our media lesson on Monday we went through the footage and we realised the lighting didn't go to plan again. The shots seemed quite rushed so we had to consider filming again. Therefore, we changed location and decided to  change location and do the house scenes at Jessi's house in Woodside Park.

On Wednesday 7th December,  Jubida, Jessi and myself went to film at Jessi's house. Unfortunately Jeannie could not make it to film because she had a doctors's appointment.  We started filming at around 1:30 and we decided to film in chronological order. So we started with our main character (Jessi) walking to her house and opening the door to her house. We got close ups of Jessi's fingers which are filled with mud to show the audience that the main character had been to the park to bury the bag. We then shot her coming into the house, however we noticed the lighting was far too dark. We did not want to make the same mistake with the lighting as in the past our lighting has let us down. Thus, we ensured the lighting seemed right and turned the light on in house and this made such a big difference.

The next shots we had to film was the girl washing her muddy hands and trying to act normal again.  We faced a lot of difficulties with the tripod as it seemed like it was quite loose and we couldn't pan some shots very well. Some of our shots looked quite wonky too. If we needed to film in the future again, we could check the tripod and ensure everything is alright with it to overcome this problem.

Then we filmed the girl sitting down and watching tv and then reading her book to make her seem like a normal person. For the last few shots we had to film  the girl receiving the texts and getting panicked. When she throws her phone she notices the newspaper and we want it to fade with a mid close up of the headline of the newspaper article.

When we watched through our footage on Thursday's lesson we thought the transition from the park to the girl's house didn't seem right. We need to film a shot of the girl exiting the park to make the shot seem more seamless.

Filming Session 08/12/16

blog post 14- micro and macro anaysis

micro analysis- small analysis like shots, songs and technical stuff

macro analysis- large anysis like propes and the backrounds

It uses creepy music at the start to create a sinister atmosphere. On the screen it comes with the name of the show with freaky font. Goes to a black screen then fades into a toy circus looking environment.

It then goes to an image of a merry go round and with ‘FX presents’ and it uses a lot of shadow to move around the toy/circus environment then a partial head pops around the circus cart which leads to balloon making sounds with hands making the balloons with a clown costume.

 After it goes to a flickering pictures appearing to make the skeleton bike move with the name ‘Sarah Paulson.’

Then it fades to ‘Evan Peters’ with toys in the background. The music has got more sinister and creepy with carousel music. Then it goes to a large clown head which looks like it’s made with plastic and latex. The background is black with a few little dim lights. The head is moving clockwise with the sound of ticking clock background.

Then it goes to a rotating human dartboard with a two headed clown with the name ‘Michael Chiklis.’  A knife hits the human dartboard as it moves around.

Then a close up shot of a toy moving with two claw hands with flickering images that makes it appear to be moving. Then it goes to a wide shot to include background of a tent with the name ‘Fances Conroy.’

Return to weird rotating creepy clown face again which is much more visible. The clown has sharp jagged teeth, chipped off nose and crossward looking eyes. Then for a split second, it goes to an image of creepy small clowns sinisterly smiling. The images now alternate between the clown face and the little clowns. It appears there are two faces of a clown: one side has nothing on the face. The small clown does a 180 degree turn with its head.

Image of the inside of a tent with the shadow of a London eye looking ride.

Creepy image of a monkey wearing a clown choker with a small top hat with a cymbal.

The small clown lying down on the ground with a smile.

A one handed man nailing things into his face with the name ‘Denis O’Hare.’

Skeletons with the name ‘Emma Roberts.’

Puppet stage with a marionette hands held up with the name ‘Finn Witrock.’

Then back to the large faced creepy clown again with the name ‘Angela Bassett.’

Return to balloon hand making clown. The music has got a bit quieter.

A scene of doll babies in a cage taking their heads off and rolling it towards each other.

Animated circus ringmaster toy zips open with blood running down the mouth with the name ‘Kathy Bates.’

A toy head with a hat with a beautiful background and the name ‘Jessica Lange.’

A man on stilts pulling a cart with the name of the show: ‘American Horror Story Freakshow.’

Return to monkey cymbal image then the name ‘created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk.’ The background comes into focus to reveal the monkey with jagged teeth and black eyes.

Close up shot of outer edges of tent with the name of the show: ‘American Horror Story Freakshow.’

over all the American horror story title sequence required less costume and physical factors and really depended on editing and props. the fact the props depended on mainly reds and whites to symbolise the  circus and add blacks and dark bleak colours to create the contrast of the fun lovable childhood memory to this demonic nightmare. the toys in the title sequence also symbolise a character, situation and or part of life that accrues in the programme. the backgrounds where also either edited in using a green screen and others using painted or large toy sized backgrounds to make it match the creepy toy and childhood aesthetic of the title sequence. over all the music and the actions match pretty well and clearly all the movement of the toys are images all put togather to make it look like moving images to make a choppy effect. theres a lot of over the shoulder and mid shots  

Looking Over Footage

Our group went filming on the 2nd of December at Jeannie's house, when we got back to college on the 5th of December we looked over the footage that we filmed, we discovered that the lighting changed a lot throughout the shots taken. This is a problems as the shots will not flow well and the title sequence will look choppy and unprofessional, this will not suspend disbelief for the people watching our title sequence. After we discovered this problem we decided that we are going to re-film the footage at a different location of Jessi's house.

By looking at the over view of our footage it was evident that the footage was too dark to use, this means that we will need to go out and film again. This is not good for our group as we are running out of valuable filming time. 

Rough Cut Editing

To get a feel of what the final outcome of our title sequence will look like we decided to create a rough cut edit. This allows us to create our desired outcome in a long period of time instead of rushing all of the editing before the deadline. By doing this we can create our desired title sequence.

We try to edit the rough cut title sequence each time we film so we can decide whether or not we need to go out and re-film any footage. If we come to the conclusion that we need to re-film our footage, we reflect on what went wrong in our previous shoot during class.

Filming mistakes!

On the 30th of November our group decided to go filming at Regents Park so we could re-film the footage that came out too dark. We had a successful time whilst filming as we were able to film everything that we needed to and more. However, when we got back to the editing suite at college we realised we create ourselves a mise-en-scene problem that would appear in a couple of our shots. What we discovered was that we left the camera bags in the middle of our shot, it was very obvious mistake but when we were filming we didn't see it. Unfortunately, we desperately needed this shot in our title sequence so we had to find a solution and quickly. We didn't have the time to go out to Regents Park and re-film the scenes again as we had to go to different locations to film more footage for the rest of our tile sequence.

Luckily we were able to come up with a temporary fix that would help us for a short amount of time. The media technician helped us cover up the dark, grey camera bags that were in the middle of our footage. He cut out a piece of the screen which featured leaves in it.

He then layered it on top of the camera bag that was evident in the footage, this worked as there was lots of leaves and trees surrounding our filming location for this day so the cut out camouflaged into the background. The technician then feathered out the edges of the cut out and it blended into the background.

When the technician had finished trying to blend the cut out into the background, we asked people in our class and the other technician to see if they could see anything wrong with the footage and none of them noticed the cover up until we told them what we did. This temporary fix could work out for good and hopefully we will be able to use it in our final product, otherwise we will have to go out and re-film the shot.

Filming Session 2/12/2016

On Friday our group (minus Nadia - she couldn't make it to the shoot this day) decided to start filming the next proportion of our title sequence, for this shoot we had to film at a different location to the one we had filmed at for our previous shoots. We needed to film the interior and exterior of a house so we decided to use Jeannie's house, we filmed here as it had a family feel to the place which we hope to reflect in the character of the title sequence. We wanted to emphasise the fact that the girl was once a normal teenage but she did something bad in her life and is now paying the consequences for what she did.

Whilst at this location we had a strict time frame to film all of the scenes for the title sequence, if we didn't manage to film what we needed then we will have to go back to this location and re-film the footage. At this location there were 3 big things that we had to shoot; the girl opening the door and entering the house, the girl washing her hands and the keys and finally the part where she receives the text from the anonymous number. We filmed them in that order so we wouldn't miss anything out and it would then be easier for us when we are editing the footage.

Here is some proof of us filming:

Great day filming at Jeannie's house pic.twitter.com/hoYn1RioHx

— Group 23 (@candimedia23) December 4, 2016

(Please click on the Twitter link as we are not able to embed the photos from our tweets)

Mise-En-Scene Update (Newspaper Headline)

Keeping in mind of the mise-en-scene of title sequence we needed to create a newspaper article that our main character will come across. Thus for our title sequence, 

 we created a newspaper article, that the main character will come across. Above is the final newspaper article I created. I had faced several difficulties in making making the picture of the girl, (who is in fact a member from our group) to ensure she looked alright on the page. I do acknowledge that I have made a grammatical error, on the sub-heading at the bottom. However, in our shot we will only focus and pay attention to the heading- MISSING SARA,15 as this will be the most important element of the title sequence. 

Mise-En-Scene Update - Characters Costume

We decided to change the characters outfit of our main character to a more stereotypical teenager outfit. We changed this as the girl in the film is trying to act normal and doesn't want to draw attention to herself so she is wearing normal clothing, the outfit that she will wear in the title sequence is shown below:

The black bag is a key prop in our title sequence as it is what the girl is hiding in the bushes, we chose a black one as it would be easily camouflaged into the leaves. The girl wore a red hoodie, this colour signifies danger and creates a sinister feel to the title sequence. She is also wearing a black top and black jeans, this is to create a minimalist look.

Filming Session 30/11/16

Finished our re-shot of the park scenes. Hopefully the content turns out well. pic.twitter.com/TIPvODTLxJ

— Group 23 (@candimedia23) November 30, 2016

Feedback from our Pitch

After doing our pitch we received quite some positive feedback. We got asked various questions about filming our park scenes. We got asked if our location of Regents Park was good enough  to film for our title sequence. We had a back up plan that if Regents Park didn't work out, we would go to Springfield Park. We wanted to film when it got dark, however Mary said that if the footage is too dark we can't make it any brighter when editing.

Looking back on our Footage

We decided to look back on the footage that we filmed on our first shoot before we go out shooting again. Whilst doing this we realised that our footage was too dark to use, this means that we lost valuable filming time and we will have to go out again and re-film the footage that we lost due to lighting issues. We attempted to film the beginning of our title sequence which included the girl running through the park and burying the thing that she had in her hands, and then her leaving the park, this is shown in the storyboard below:

After looking back on the footage we realised that it was too dark, we have shown some screenshots to provide proof of this:

This first screenshot is when we were using the dedo light, despite the use of a light the footage we got whilst filming was still far too dark to use for in title sequence. 

First Filming Session! 26/11/16

On Saturday the 26th of November our group decided to film our first few shots that would be included in our title sequence. We all met outside of Camden town station, we then walked to Regents Park. We arrived at the location of filming at 3:30pm and it was just starting to get dark, we thought that this would create a perfect setting for our film. Below there are some photos of the location that we were filming at and us filming: (Click on the Twitter link to open the photos as it doesn't allow us to embed photos from our tweets)

Our first day of filming in Regents Park went great! pic.twitter.com/lAmvnp3DH8

— Group 23 (@candimedia23) November 27, 2016

Final Pitch by Group 23

Media Pitch by Nadia on Scribd

Pitch Task 11 (Blog 41) - The Storyboard by JESSI

Below we have embedded pictures of our storyboard, the images shows the outline of our plot line and the camera angels/shots that we will film. By creating a storyboard it allows the group to all become confident with the plot and it makes our initial ideas come to life.

 

The shots that are shown above show a girl running through the forest and falling to the ground, she is carrying a bag. 

The shots that are shown above show the girl burying the bag that she was carrying, it also shows her beginning to leave the park (she is acting suspicious).

The shots that are above shows the girl walking home and unlocking her door, you can see that she has dirty and bloody hands.

The shots that are above shows the girl entering her bathroom and looking at her reflection in the mirror.

The shots above shows the girl panicking, she then begins to wash herself up and gets clean. She begins to act more normal (stereotypical teenager).

The shots above shows the girl watching tv and acting normal. Her phone buzzes and she gets it out of her pocket.

The shots above shows the girl opening the text that she recived from an anonymous number, It says "I know what you did" and it has a picture attached as proof. She drops the phone to the ground and it falls next to a newspaper. The girl is freaking out. The camera zooms into the headline of the newspaper, it says "Missing Sara, 15".

Pitch Task 7 (Blog 27) - Filming Locations by JESSI

In our title sequence we will need to film in two different locations to create a seamless plot line; it will also create suspend disbelief for the audience as it will create a realistic tone to the film. Our first location will be in a park- Regents Park. We have decided to film in this location as it is local to where everybody lives and it has woodland areas which we can use to film in to create a sinister and mysterious tone to the film. We will film in the evenings to create a more realistic feel to our title sequence as the girl has just come home from school and she has been text by an anonymous number who is blackmailing her, after that she then frantically runs from her house and through the park.Our second filming location is in a bedroom, we have chosen Jeanie's house as none of her family members will be their when we film. By no one being at this location it will create an eerie tone which will make the audience feel fearful.
 Below there is a google maps image of the park that we will be filming in.

Pitch Task 8 (Blog 37) - Mise-En-Scene by JUBIDA & JESSI

Mise-en-scene is a french phrase for "Within the scene." This means the arrangement of everything that appears in the framing – actors, lighting, décor, props, costume and make up. It is a huge element used within movies and often used to give the audience clues about the characters personality or actions. It can also be used to signify the mood of the film and certain mise-en-scene elements are used for particular genres. For example, horror movies often consist of props such as masks & crosses. It's important that we pay close attention to how we use our mise-en-scene elements in our opening sequence so we can convey an element of mystery about our character.

Pitch Tasks 1-4 (Blog 31) - Film Features, Type of Title Sequence, Genre, Representation, & Setting by GROUP 23

Pitch Task 13 (Blog 40) - Risk assessment by JESSI

Risk Assessments are vital so we are able to outline any possible dangers to ourselves or our title sequence before we start shooting. As a group we have discussed any accidents or risks that may occur to us whilst filming and have come up with a few solutions to these problems:

Lighthousefellwship by Group TwentyThree

Pitch Task 9 (Blog 30) - Sound by JUBIDA

Use of Sound in our Title Sequence
Click through the presentation below to see how we will be using diegetic and non diegetic sound in our title sequence. 

Soundscape:

 -This soundtrack will be one of the pieces we use as it starts off very calm but towards the end gets sinister and more intense. This is similar to the style of our title sequence because at the beginning the girl is seen as a normal girl but as the sequence progresses there is a twist and we see her turn into a dark character.

Pitch Task 7 (Blog 27) - Filming Location/Setting by JEANNIE

The location we have chosen is Regents Park.This is because it is the best location for everyone to travel to and at night it would give a sinister feeling. I know this as I travelled to Springfield Park to try and get the similar feeling of a park late at night so I decided to take photos at the choice time to try and get a sinister feeling. I wanted to see what could be the potential problems that we could face. For example, when I was taking the photos the park, the lighting was extremely dark thus we will need film before it gets too dark in order to prevent this problem.
Below are some of the pictures I took near and of Springfield Park:

We will also be filming in the living room and bathroom in my house, by filming here it is easy to reach for everyone after college which means that we can all travel together to this location.

In our title sequence we will need to film in two different locations to create a seamless plot line; it will also create suspend disbelief for the audience as it will create a realistic tone to the film. Our first location will be in a park- Regents Park. We have decided to film in this location as it is local to where everybody lives and it has woodland areas which we can use to film in to create a sinister and mysterious tone to the film. We will film in the evenings to create a more realistic feel to our title sequence as the girl has just come home from school and she has been text by an anonymous number who is blackmailing her, after that she then frantically runs from her house and through the park.Our second filming location is in a bedroom, we have chosen Jeanie's house as none of her family members will be their when we film. By no one being at this location it will create an eerie tone which will make the audience feel fearful.