CONSTRUCTION: EDITING

I helped to edit sections of the film today. I edited with Demi working to add the opening credits choosing appropriate font and placing font in the right places where there was plenty of space. We wanted to follow the coneventions of a film opening and we therefore had to make sure to add credits in and use the correct names and roles within the opening. Placing the font in correct positins was also important. In order to expand our choice of fonts we looked on After Effects and not just iMovie.

We also needed to decide on how to edit in the phone call that takes place between India and the emergency phone operator. We decided to place the audio in the clip before she is seen speaking on the phone. To ensure the audience could understand that India had made the call I suggested we place the font "dialling 999..." at the bottom corner of the screen. I suggested that the tone of the phone dialling could be heard while "dialling 999" was seen to flash on and off the screen. We did this section on iMovie placing in layers of the words that would come in consecutavely to give off this sense of flashing on and off the screen.

CONSTRUCTION: COMPANY IDENT

Above shows the company ident I have created with my group. We chose to  include the music from the musical Chicago entitled "razzle dazzle". We included a pun playing on this title calling our company "razzle rainbows". We used iStopmotion to create the ident using the technique of onion cutting to move the rainbow and letters in order to show the rainbow and letters appearing.

Below shows our distributors company ident for Warp. This was placed at the beginning of our film.

CONSTRUCTION: OPERATOR SCENE

Today we filmed a scene featuring a female operator. This operator would be on the end of the emergency call made by our female character India when she is in the forrest. We used this footage to end our film as it made it visually interesting to see a new character and shows the way in which our film could continue. At the end of the scene the female operators gaze shifts as if to look at someone. We did this to suggest that this would lead to a motivated shot. I wanted to include this as I want to show that our opening has a story line that could continue; it is important to us that it doesn't look like a trailer. We felt doing this would avoid it looking like a trailer. 

I assisted with directing in this scene as I was the actress. I was able to give feedback to Demi who was filming, with the position of my face in the shot and how close up it should appear. I also made decisions about my script and what I felt should be said. I also suggested that I use a headset as this made it appear more realistic. We considered that the environment needed to be believable and so we filmed in the ICT room where there's plenty of space and desks. Although it is subtle we felt it was key to have Sophie in the background also wearing a head set. It allows the mis-en-scene to make the scene look believable as there would of course be more than one operator working in the office. 

This image shows Kate and I directing and watching footage back. From here we both talked through what changes we might make and discussed what worked well in the clip. 

Here I can be seen playing the female operator. 

CONSTRUCTION: ORDER OF CREDITS IN FILM OPENINGS

27.03.2015 EXAMINERS UPDATE ON ORDER OF CREDITS IN FILM OPENINGS

From examiners report 2014

When constructing and editing our film we have had to consider adding opening credits to my footage. During the filming I have had to consider where we could place names on the screen. Now that I wish to add names I would like to place names and roles in the correct order to show that I have thought my opening through and so that it will look more professional.

During the final process of adding opening credits to our film opening, we encountered a reference to film titles in the examiners report to centres (2014).

According to last years Media Studies entries "There was still an over-reliance solely on actors' names and film title to constitute film titles, showing a lack of understanding of the range of titles expected of a film opening and of their construction, appearance and timings". 
Looking at the report reinforced this need to look at the corret order of credits and use this where possible in my opening. Credits are determined by guild rules such as SAG, the DGA, WGA and other Media unions. We took into consideration that credits are billed generally following their importance to the film. 

For example below shows how this worked for our film 

1. The Production Company presents - "RAZZLE DAZZLE PRODUCTIONS presents"
2. A .... production - "A PARRY PRODUCTION"
3. A ...... film - "A BENNETT FILM:

Thereafter, the list of importance is flipped and work backwards to the most important role of the Director.
4. Title
5. Lead Cast
6. Supporting Cast
7. Casting Director
8. Music Composer
9. Costume Designer
10. Associate Producer
11. Editor
12. Production Designer
13. Director of Photography
14. Executive Producer
15. Producer
16. Writer
17. Director

In our group we decided to have a name for every role that would be listed in a film opening. We used our own names where possible and to avoid repetition created other names that we could use to make the opening look more professional. 

We tried to keep to this layout and use the roles from the list in the correct order. We found however that we could not put the title until further towards the end of our opening. Contrary to this being near the beginning on the list we planned our entire opening around the title appearing at the end and we felt to amend this would ruin the effect of our opening.

CONSTRUCTION: BASEMENT SCENES

We filmed various scenes in the basement of my house.

The image below shows that we filmed India's eyes. This is an extreme close up that will begin the opening. The mis-en-scene helps to create an eerie and cold atmosphere straight away. We made sure the lighting was dark to create this effect. We wanted to present the genre as dark and as a thriller straight away. The use of the extreme close up helps to portray the emotion and the fear as India remembers her ordeal and has a flashback of being taken.

We filmed a shot of the kidnapper, played by Jay, reflected in the mirror. We had to create this shot in two stages. We took a shot of Jay punching the mirror. He acted as if to punch the mirror without actually meeting the mirror so as to avoid injuries. We have had to take into account safety issues with broken glass here as we knew we had to break the mirror. After we were happy with the shot I placed a towel over the mirror and broke it using a hammer. After this we had to film another shot of Jay pretending to punch the mirror. We made the shot realistic by using fake blood on his hand as well as applying it to the mirror. 

In this shot below I filmed a tracking shot. The lighting used is fairly warm here. We wanted to provide a homely feel as the male kidnapper Jack is mentally ill. His personality contrasts with the appearance his house gives off as he lives in a homely, old fashioned house. The cold side of his personality is reflected in his violence and in the horrific dark cold basement that India is locked in.

CONSTRUCTION: FORREST SCENES

Today I will focus on the filming that we have done in the forrest.

Our film has various scenes set in the forrest. I have filmed and directed in various scenes in the forrest.

In the scene below I was filming a 180 degree shot. This had to be shot freehand as the ground was too rough to use a dolly to move the camera on a tripod. I had to move carefully and slowly to film. We decided we liked the idea of shaky camera work as it provided an accurate insight into the tension and stress felt by the terrified character. The close up of the character's face enables us to see her eyes and her head dart as she looks around. The spinning gives the impression that India does not know where to run to.

I also film a panning shot in which India is seen running past the camera. I experimented with various angles. I used the tripod to gain height with the camera angling it downwards so that her legs and feet are seen running past the camera. I eventually moved the camera with her panning it so that it provided the audience with a feeling that they are also experiencing the feeling of escape that India is going through. It helped to make the audience feel they were going with her. I also did a panning shot that consisted of a mid shot of india running. We eventually decided that focusing on her feet put emphasis on the desperate escape she was going through. The dark lighting helped to show the despair and therefore shows how we have considered the mis-en-scene in our opening. The leaves on the ground clearly signal that she is running through woodlands or a forrest.

In this scene it was necessary to show India running towards the camera. Kate filmed Demi using a close up and extreme close up of her mouth and her cheek. We used these close ups as we wanted to show the fear and we used audio to emulate this fear. We used heavy breathing to show her fear and the effort she had put into her escape. The mis-en-scene helped to establish this as the cut on her face can clearly be seen in one of the shots. I assisted with directing this and decided how best to do this; we discussed whether to use a panning shot here and filmed at various angles to show the cut on her face.

CONSTRUCTION: FINISHING THE WEBSITE

I have created a prototype for how our website would appear. Our website is important as it enables us to share details about our film with our audience. I have created it using photoshop. The image below shows the homepage. 

I created the home page using photoshop. The background image was created by duplicating one image and flipping it. I then used the tools available to remove any background that I didn't want and i matched the images. I used paint brushes and tools to make the hair and enhance the colours of the cut on the girls face and the hair. The title of "the unhinging" is largest as its the most important part of the site. It was also important to include key information such as the release date. 

This image shows the home page of the website. I have included links in the bottom right hand corner. I viewed other film sites in which to base this on so that I was aware of what to include within the links. The cursor image shows the way in which when hovering over the word "Share" changes to show various social media symbols like Facebook and Instagram  Our group has created accounts with all of these options so as to involve our target audience and portray key information. 

This screen shot shows how the bar on the side of the page can open to show a menu with links to different pages on the website. These pages would include relevant information about our film as well as clips and a trailer. I have tried to create a website that would work well for android and apple products such as an iPad or iPhone. It would work well as this bar can be swiped to the right or left on a touchscreen. The layout is also very simple for these products. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 1

Ident

Every production has a production company ident that promotes their company. Ours set out out to be eye-catching and dynamic with show business connotations.We made use of music from the musical Chicago entitled "razzle dazzle" to compliment the name of the company Razzle Rainbows. We used iStopmotion to create the ident.


High angle shot
The angle shot allows us to see Jack perching above a mirror. We can see his facial expression and

Operator
The mis-en-scene is key to creating the atmosphere and tension in a scene. In this scene we have used mis-en-scene to portray the environment the character is in. We use a headset with a microphone to display that it is a helpline. The close up of the female operator creates suspense as we are able to hear her speech and see her reaction.

Motivated shot
Using a motivated shot offers the viewer a different perspective of the character. It allowed us to change  the location of India succinctly as she appears at a different angle when walking away from the camera.

Up the stairs
The panning shot of India walking upstairs creates suspense and allows the audience to follow the plot easily. The shot compliments the shot that follows which is of India coming out of the basement.


Tracking shot (hallway)
The shot begins as a still as an over the shoulder shot. This goes into a tracking shot allowing us to follow the character. We are able to experience tension that she experiences as we follow her as she walks through the house. The shaky camera provides suspense; we wanted to make the audience feel as though they were accompanying India. This would heighten tension and engage the viewer.

180% shot
Use of a 180% shot enabled us to show the perspective of the main character in the story. It enables the mis-en-scene to show the tone and the mood within the shot. The effect of the shaky camera also enables the tension to be conveyed. 

WEBSITE

I have begun to create the website for our film (opening). I decided to use photos from the photoshoot for the poser of the film. Kate worked with me and suggested creating a mirror or reflected effect with oen of the shots of Demi's profile. I took this into photoshop and I created the design by flipping the image. I then had to remove some of the image to blend and murge the two images of the face together so that they apeared reflected.

From here I altered the opacity levels of the images and continued to blend and alter colours so as to make the join/blend seemless and more accurate. I then built up various layers so that I might alter the colour of the image. I wished to create a darker image so that any text and information would be visible. Although the image can be seen I hope to create a darker less obvious background here for the website. It is important to make the background visually appealing and interesting however on a website I  the links, titles and other fonts used needed to be very clear and visible. This darkness works well for the tone that we wish to create.

I looked at websites for films of a similar genre to ours to make sure that I was creating something with a similar feel:

As I go on to develop the website page I may try to encorporate elements I have noticed in these film websites where the logo is included and there is often a hidden bar or set of links so that the background can be appreciated more.