Camerawork:
In the preliminary task the camera work is
very basic, simply due to the fact that we had little knowledge on types of
shot and different angles. We were also instructed which shots to do, in the
storyboard given to us. We made various schoolboy errors, such as film a shot
where the reflection of the cameraman and camera can be seen in the window.
Since then our camerawork has improved greatly. We are much more aware of
checking that only things that are needed in the shot are in it (no
reflections) and the variety of shots we used was larger. For example, we tried
a birds-eye view shot over the desks – something that we didn’t even know we
could do at the time we were shooting our prelim. We also used a mini track so
that the camera could smoothly pan across the office or move foreword
effortlessly.
Over-head shot
<- Camera reflection in window
Mise
en scene:
With the preliminary task there was barely
any mise en scene. We were told to have a piece of costume or a prop so we
could create some sort of character to fit into the storyboard, rather than
just two people saying lines that meant nothing. We had the Star Wars costume
and a light saber; both aided it in creating a plot that had slightly more
depth. In the thriller we decided to use a real office because it gave us easy
access to all things office-like, such as: desks, chairs, monitor screens etc.
To add more character to the office we added extra props. For example, on the
woman’s desk there are multiple trashing magazines and post-it notes all over
the rim of the monitor. The costume was of more importance too; both were
dressed in traditional office attire making their setting more believable. We
used light much more effectively as well. Desk lamps shone in different
directions, while the main office lights were off to give the sense that it was
dark and after hours.
Editing:
In the prelim the editing process was
quick. We just threw the shots in without really thinking too much about
precision. The editing was reasonably choppy and jumped around a bit. In our
thriller we are taking much more time on the editing, because especially in our
piece it’s where it starts to make sense. We have started using more complex
effects, such as slow motion to add extra dimensions to our film. We have also
thought more about making sure the entire cut links together creating the most
fluid run possible. We have included text in appropriate places in the appropriate order of role (lead actors, followed by smaller roles...). Our final title of 'Paragon' was quite complex. We used adobe after effects and photoshop to layer some colour over the text. We also took a picture of cracked glass in order to create the crack through the word, paired with sound effect of a slashing knife pulled from Youtube. This holistic approach made our ending quite impacting and I think quite professional looking.
Sound:
In the prelim the only sound we had was the
voices spoken on camera, plus some background shuffles and noises. Sound in our
thriller is incredibly important because it is what implies the weird and crazy.
In the thriller we use a voice over to convey the thoughts of the male lead, we recorded this in the studio post-shoot. This was a integral part of our film. As
well as this we have various noises, such as a pencil scribbling, that have
been heightened to have attention placed on it. . Something that we payed attention too whilst editing the
sound was making sure that we didn’t have unnecessary noises in the background,
like muttering or shuffles. To do this we split the sound track from the footage and deleted any background noise. This process took time but was definitely necessary and made all the difference. We used an effect on Final Cut Pro to muffle the voice of the woman, we also tuned down the frequency so it was at a much lower pitch giving it a slight grumbling tone. Our hard work and dedication to the sound payed off as we won an internal award for 'Best Sound in an AS thriller', this we were very pleased with.
Organisation
Organisation is key to creating a good
piece of film. This can be shown very clearly between our two pieces of work.
In the prelim there was pretty much no planning done. The only thing that we
had to do was decide what we wanted our characters to be, and even that was
done reasonably last minute. We got the costume together about fifteen minutes
before our shoot began and the light saber was used simply because it was in
the media room. We didn’t have to write a script or storyboard because it was
all given to us. As for location we used the edit suite because it was an empty
room and it was convenient. The organisation for the thriller was much more
advanced. We knew exactly what props and costume was needed way in advance and
we made it clear by creating mini mood boards and tables. We confirmed the
location of our film as soon as we knew we wanted an office setting. We spent
months on planning the storyboard, creating multiple drafts before finally
deciding on the order of shots. However, we were slightly unorganised when it
came to scripting the inner thought monologue. This was written only a few days
before it was recorded. This wasn’t due to the fact that we didn’t know what to
write, it was because we wanted to make sure that the action would fit the
voice over. With the thriller we spent a lot of time researching other films
and other psychological thrillers to get ideas and inspiration.
Group
Work
In the prelim we did actually work
reasonably well as a group and we all did a little bit of everything, but we
did mostly stick to one role (I was directing). Whereas in the thriller we
really made sure that everyone did and had a go at everything. We all combined
our ideas making sure that if we thought we had a concept that it was heard and
acknowledged even if it wasn’t heard. I do however feel that at times there
were certain members carrying the group more than others, but overall we all
worked hard and it shows in our finished piece.
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