What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful?
The scene that we found most successful is the one where I am sitting in the living room packing the drugs. I particularly like this scene because of the use of props and also the varied camera angles used. These different shots allow for different titles to appear on the screen which fit well.
Furthermore, I think that the use of the GoPro is very useful as it shows we have considered different types of points of view. In addition, we ensured that we had a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds including the music and the dialogue.
Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing?
We decided to experiment in the first draft by switching to different days however by putting this into practice it actually became confusing, consequently we altered this in our final draft and made the whole opening set at night time.
The alley way scene was a little confusing because the audience wouldn't know what is going on however as the film progresses the narrative becomes more clearer because the character is shown packaging the goods.
List 2 things you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.
In order to improve this sequence, we would need to vary the transitions between different scenes. At the moment we have only used straight cuts between scenes so we could use different transitions such as dissolves or slides.
Another way to improve the first draft would be to tweak the titles because they are currently different sizes and they all need to be the same size to maintain that professional look.
What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful?
Many people who reviewed our first draft wrote that they admired the many different camera angles used. Furthermore, some even included they enjoyed the variation of camera point of views, such as the use of the GoPro showing the main character on a bike.
A lot of people said that the music was suitable because it creates an on edge atmosphere. One person said that "The music went well with the drug scene and the characterisation was good". This is exactly what we intended to portray when we chose the song because it helps tell the narrative.
Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing?
Some viewers felt that the scene with the GoPro where I am cycling down the road was confusing. This is because the scene switches from day to night in an instance and this confused some people. In order to rectify this we will re-shoot the scene in darkness to prevent viewers from being unable to understand.
Others felt that there was little dialogue throughout the opening, however we have added in some more dialogue which was not included in the first draft.
List 2 things you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.
One common area for improvement noted by many viewers is the alley way scene where the goods are handed over. They noticed that the conversation in this scene was unclear and in some places looked somewhat staged. In order to improve this we are going to re-shoot this particular scene so that the dialogue is more clear and viewers can see every detail.
We also need to improve the transitions between shots, some people noticed that the transitions are too quick without any effects such as "film dissolves" or "slides".
The story board went well as we included a detailed set of images of the scene and also added a voice over to it. By doing this it meant that we gave more information as to what is going to happen in the film opening and how each scene will plan out. We attempted to include some of the shot types to make sure they are varied although in many we were unsure as are planing to decide at a later date. it also gave us a good indication towards how long each scene will be to make sure we can make it with in the guidelines of two minutes.
What could be improved/ work you change next time?
The images of the story board were draw in pencil. This was to make sure if we made any mistakes we were able to quickly change them and stay on task. Although when we videoed these images they were not viably seen, to improve this we should have drawn them in a darker colour so the audience do not struggle to see them. Plus as mentioned earlier, not every scene is given a shot description. This makes the plan seem a little unorganized with is not the idea we want to give off. To improve this a title could be added on just to give the audience more information of whether it will be a match on action, long shot, close up or pan etc.
1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the tasks between you?
For our preliminary task i was grouped with Pip and Renae. We were all allocated jobs to do within the group to contribute to the final product. I had the job to plan the film and create a storyboard that we would refer to when filming. I also portrayed a protagonist role in the short film, as did everyone in the group.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
We decided to use a storyboard as we felt we needed visual elements in our plan to create the exact shots we wanted. The storyboard is detailed showing how precise the shots needed to be. We finished with a total of 17 shots including the credits:
Shots 1 - 6
Shots 7 - 12
Shots 13 - 17
3) What theorists do you think you could apply to your task?
I think there are many theorists who could apply to our film. Firstly, Roland Barthes and his discovery of enigma codes can apply to our task, this is because the audience is constantly asking questions such as - why is the evil teacher after the yound girl? or - Who is the suspicious looking man?
Furthermore, the theories of Claude Levi-Strauss can be applied to our task. His theory was that there are binary opposites in our world that define what we make of it. One opposite used in our film was the use of male and female characters and also the opposite of old and young. The victim in our film is a young schoolgirl which immediately represents innocence and purity. Whereas the evil character in the film is a male who has no conscience and ends up killing the girl.
4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
We had to choose appropriate locations when planning and shooting our task, for instance we chose a school as our location therefore we chose areas such as the diner, a staircase and a gate to show the audience that it was a school environment which adds even for enigma codes for the viewers.
When editing we had to decide on an appropriate soundtrack for non-verbal scenes and also had to choose a suitable and intensifying backing when the plot was carried out.
5) How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well and with hindsight what would you improve/do differently?
Our final sequence was successful because we included all of
the specified shots that were required of us, these included a tracking shot
and an extreme close up. If we could have improved our final product I think we
could have worked more in terms of editing, maybe we could have alternated the
lighting to create a more intense atmosphere at certain parts.
6) What did others say about your production?
Others enjoyed our film because they admired how the narrative built up right up until the end therefore suspense was constant throughout. Many viewers praised one shot in particular where the teacher answers the phone and then the evil man can be seen walking into the diner.
7) What have you learnt from completing this task?
I have learned that the most important element when working in a group is communication. Without communication ideas cannot be transmitted into the project therefore it is vital that everyone in the group is treated equally and no one should dominate a group because it leads to disagreements and a lack of time management.
8) Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your final film opening?
The preliminary task is a good learning curve as I learned new features of Adobe Premiere as well as learning new camera techniques which are used by professionals such as the 180 degree rule when filming a conversation.
Juno Task (made in Premiere)
For this task, we were again set in a group of three and we had to watch some footage from the film Juno and our challenge was to recreate this footage to a similar standard using the guidance of Abode Premiere.
Editing Evaluation
Story Board Part 1: This storyboard contains the first eight scenes we had to include. The advantage of creating this storyboard is that we had material to refer to when filming instead of trying to remember the specific shots in our minds. Another useful feature is that we decided to caption each scene with the number of seconds that footage had to last for in order to keep in time with the original piece.
Story Board Part 2: The second addition to our storyboard contains the final four scenes needed in our video. As it is seen above, we clearly labelled the end of the footage and we spent time creating this storyboard including lots of detail as we felt that every angle had to be precise so we could end with a professional and identical product.
Footage Editing on Premiere
Our group edited the footage individually because it is important to see where we could identify each other's strengths and weaknesses by comparing the videos. I felt that it was important to perfect every transition and if we could not add in the identical transition then I replaced it with a suitable alternative. At 0:14 seconds I used a wipe transition because it is exactly what is used in the original. On the other hand, between 0:22 and 0:25 seconds the original shows two clips overlapping each other as a transition into the following scene. However, I was unable to include this effect therefore I opted for a film dissolve transition which is a fairly suitable alternative because it slowly fades the previous scene and the next scene together. At 0:42 seconds we used a pedestal camera movement which at first pictures the legs but then rises to the upper half of the body. This is a movement we had to physically record because there is no pedestal effect on the software.
