Evaluation : Question 1

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product ?

From the preliminary task to the finished production of my opening sequence I have learnt many things and one of those things is Time management. At the beginning of the preliminary task I knew it was fairly important to keep track of time, but wasn’t fully aware of time management until actually filming the preliminary task. Once I had started to edit the prelim I could see that time would be very important once creating the opening sequence to make it more effective and professional as I could see that if I had had longer to film the prelim a wider variety of shots could have been taken, and a better prelim could have been produced.

 I now knew that time would be very important during the whole process of making the opening sequence looking back on the preliminary task. To make a quality opening sequence the time we had needed to be managed carefully to fit many thing in such as research, filming and editing so as a production group we devised a diary for when where filming. The filming diary was very effective as it helped to organise each of us, and made us aware of what we actually needed to do in the time we had, as now we could structure what we needed to film efficiently. When filming we stuck to the diary quite a bit, even though we spent an extra lesson just getting some final shots. A filming diary would have been very helpful for when I was filming the preliminary task, as it helped to organise the work that I did, as well as knowing I had to stick to a certain deadline just like a director would in the filming industry.

 Time was very important whilst editing as well. During the prelim we had several lessons just to put the footage together into an actual video on iMovie whereas editing the opening sequence was slightly different as we created it on final cut. A lesson had to be used to learn how to use final cut compared to the prelim where I already knew how to use iMovie, this meant it was more time consuming. Selecting footage also took a longer time, as what we selected to put into the opening sequence needed to be really effective, clear and precise otherwise it wouldn’t look as professional when finished. Another thing that took quite a bit of time was using other software to add into final cut such as Live Type and Garage Band, as these were also new pieces of software in which I hadn’t used before, but needed to be used otherwise the opening sequence wouldn’t be as effective.

Toward the end of creating the opening sequence I could see that using different pieces of software was time consuming, so staying back for intervention sessions was needed, just to gain a bit of time to make It look more professional by including titles, a voice over and soundtrack, these wouldn’t have been completed, or would have been completed to a poorer quality as the time wasn’t there to do them in lessons as it was a bit of a rush.

 From the preliminary task to the completion of the opening sequence I can see that time was one of the biggest issues in actually completing a high quality piece of film and that steps such as creating a filming diary were actually needed to stay organised and on track of the whole process other wise time would have been lost and a less effective opening sequence would have been produced.

Another thing that I have learnt from the preliminary task to the completion of the opening sequence is the range of editing and technologies that need to be used to create a professional, high quality piece of film. For the preliminary task my production group simply used a handheld camera to film, and when looking back at the footage we chose some of it is rather jumpy, compared to in the opening sequence, we used a handheld camera as well as a tripod. The use of the tripod was effective as I could see the footage was sturdier and cleaner to watch adding to the level of professionalism. I also learnt that different types of software needed to be used to make a more effective piece of film. For the prelim our production group only used iMovie to edit the whole thing compared to the opening sequence where we used Final Cut to edit the opening sequence together along with Live Type to create effective title screens, and Garage Band to create a sufficient soundtrack to go with the opening sequence. By having a wider range of software I can see that it makes the film look more professional even though learning how to use each one was rather time consuming.

The camera was also rather important in terms of quality when filming. As mentioned for the prelim our group only used a camera. This made the footage look rather jumpy in places, and at times could even blur some of the footage; it wasn’t really of high quality. Compared to the opening sequence where we used a tripod. The use of the tripod meant that the quality of our footage improved as it was clearer and sturdier apart from when we used the camera free hand. I realised that the positioning of the camera also added to the level of effectiveness. When editing some of the footage we had used had a really good angle or shot but had thumb shots over the lense making the footage look rather blurry, not making it look professional.

The prelim was also rather hard to film, in terms of the location that we had actually chosen. The lighting was quite bad in some shots as the camera was facing outside, this meant that Sonny was seen as a silhouette, and his features weren't shown as well as they could have been, as shown in the screen grab below.

Looking back at the prelim I could see that, lighting was an issue, and that lighting when filming needed to be thought of. To change this as a production group we sat down and thought about all the places that we would like to film that had a range of natural and processed lighting, to create a better effect when editing the footage together, as well as being more aware of natural lighting making footage either look to dark or too light, so we mainly went against where the sun was showing. By learning from the prelim, my opening sequence was more effective in terms of lighting as shown below. Both characters were able to be seen clearly throughout the happy flashbacks, and the natural lighting was quite effective as it helped towards creating an atmosphere through pathetic fallacy, as the mood is being portrayed through the use of happy, sunny weather.

Overal from the prelim task to the opening sequence I think that i've mainly learnt how to develop techniques needed and recognise what needs to be changed. For instance changing the lighting, as it would have been less effective and professional to add in footage of silhouetted figures, as features and emotions wouldn't have been shown as effectively. I have also learnt that a quality level of professionalism is need when filming, for example, by using more effective technology such as a tripod it helps to produce clearer footage, which is needed to make a higher quality piece of film. 

Analysis, Success Criteria and Review of Opening Sequence.

Analysis

In today's lesson Sonny and I went through and analysied the whole of our opening sequence. We analysied the editing, sound, titles, and the suitablility of the opening sequence as a whole in terms of how weak, satisfactory and strong each micro element was with comments at the end with notes in showing all the things we had included in our opening sequence within each micro element as shown in the table below.

	Weak	Satisfactory	Strong	Comment
Suitability as an opening sequence		X		Enigma codes Clear story Hooks
Titles		X	X	Clear and visable Variety of font and colour Use of effect Last an appropriate amount of time
Editing		X	X	Slow motion Montage Colour manipulation Titles Transitions
Music			X	Synchronous with clips Range of diegetic and non-diegetic music. Clear changes
Voice Over			X	Clear Understandable Right volume to diegetic music Synchronous to flashbacks

We also talked about what we thought could be improved during the last lesson before the opening sequence was published. We said that we needed to add in a production logo at the beginning to make the sequence look more professional and to make it slightly longer so that we're nearer to the 2 minute mark. We also needed to make the soundtrack slightly loader and turn down the voiceover as it was just a little too quiet and hard to hear.


Success Criteria

Sonny and I also made a success critera on everything we would include for each element and then re-watched our opening sequence to see if we had included everything we said we would.

I made a success criteria on the suitablity of the opening sequence and the sound used and said...

I will be successful if I make our opening sequence suitable towards the target audience, and all of the conventions included i.e editing, sound and titles. I will try not to bore the viewer, by showing them a well planned and thought out opening sequence that's continuous and includes a sufficiant amout of enigma codes to keep them hooked and interested.

I will also be successful if the sound used is synchronous to the clips shown, by also using a range of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds such as the sound track and voice over to use variety, but making sure they are relevant to the story being shown.

Sonny made a success criteria on the editing that we will use and the titles that we will include, shown on the screen grab below.





























We also did a video to talk about our analysis and success criteria this lesson, to make it clear what we were going to do to improve our opening sequence before we published it.

Editing: Opening Sequence, Final Lesson.

Final Lesson

Today was the final lesson to finish our opening sequences, and all Sonny and I mainly needed to do was add in our production company logo to help extend the whole of the opening sequence to one minute 40 so that it was closer to the two minute mark, as well as it making the whole sequence look more professional.

The production company logo on Live type and chose 'Frigid' as the effect for our production name to flash in. We knew that we wanted a text and colour that was quite modern to attract a lot of younger viewers as that's who our production company would make films for, so we went for quite a jumpy, flashy effect along with the colours of red for the main body of the text, shadowed by a light blue to contrast, also shown on a black background so it's visible and clear, along with the positioning of the text central, so viewers can easily read it and hear the effects going on in the background, without too much going on.

Sonny and I also chose to add in another sound effect at the beginning of our opening sequence where the production company logo comes in, and again didn't want anything instrumentally so went for something more modern to mirror the colours and positioning of the text and chose a crackled effect of people talking over a radio. It sounded rather thrilling and different, and linked well to the beginning of our opening sequence music where the drum track started.

Editing: Opening Sequence, Lesson 11

Today I spent the day in media trying to finalise our opening sequence as last lessons Sonny and I still needed to add in an extra 30 seconds to be as close to the 2 minute mark as possible, So I went through the footage again to see what I could add in without changing the story line too much.

For the extension of the clips I started with the montage at the beginning of the sequence where Sarah is in the bathroom. I didn't want to jump cut it anymore than it already was otherwise it would be too flashy and the audience wouldn't be able to focus properly on what was happening, so I added the clips into the actual storyline instead of the jump cuts of Sarah crying. It was more relevant to extend the clips where Sarah was washing the sink out and extracting soap from the dispenser instead of re writing the whole opening to the sequence. I also put some of the clips from the sinister scenes where James is walking toward Sarah in the point of view shots, by doing this it added to the psychological hybrid of the genre more as it seemed like she was thinking more about what he did to her rather than suddenly adding it into a darker flashback at the end of the opening sequence, As well as making it continuous throughout, I also added the clips of James walking toward Sarah and him hitting her in between the credits during the happy scenes, to make it more effective and make the audience remember what's actually happening between both of the characters throughout rather than them thinking about what's happening in separate flashbacks.

Through the extension of the clips, this meant that I also had to extend the music on garage band, and re-think what was actually happening in the music and if it synchronised with the clips well. When I went back over the music I realised that there wasn't really any climax, even though they were synchronous and changed where the clips and flashbacks did, So I kept the beginning drum track and the piano but added in more layers, For example I changed the mood of the piano three times throughout the happy scenes, so they were more upbeat but still in a minor key to relate to the sadness and create a more tense atmosphere to the clips.








To climax the music and make it more interesting so that the audience don't get bored, I added in a range of guitar chords and riffs, changing where the clips changed and coming in where Sarah is shown to be laughing in slow motion, helping to create her character to show a more edgy and dark side to her mirroring the music. Then the same guitar riff that we had previous is used during the Sinister flashbacks where the audience finally see James walk up and hit Sarah from the Point of view shot as one continuous clip is used, and when that died down, and the voice over says " IMPOSTER" a non-diegetic sound of a rumble is played, and buzzes out just as 'IMPOSTER' flashes off, again adding to the atmosphere and tension of the opening sequence.



















Not only was changing the music in Garage Band essential to be synchronous to the extended clips, the credit in Live Type also needed to be changed, and a few more needed to be added in as the positions of the credits were set to go with the lighting during the happy flashbacks, whereas now they come in in between the flashbacks on a black background, as shown in the screen grab below. This meant that the position of the credits needed to be changed. From research I know that typically people read text in a 'Z' formation following the grid of 3, So that's the way I positioned the credits, to appear in a 'Z' formation so that the audience know where to look when reading, as well as it hooking them and keeping them interested in the opening sequence.

 The credits throughout our opening sequence also needed to be made bigger as they were too small for the viewer to read, especially in the original places that they were in at the bottom of the screen. As shown in the screen grab below the titles are now more visible and the white font stands out clearly from the black background. The black background also made more sense rather than just having titles appear during the clip as the colours mirror the characters quite nicely. The white connoting the innocence of Sarah during the beginning of her and James' relationship in contrast to the black of the background connoting the darkness of the character James and the crime that he commits as well as the character of Sarah as she has supposedly killed James in reference to the enigma codes. I also made the credits during the happy flashbacks last longer as they were rather quick for the viewer to see as well. After doing research on the credits by watching some opening sequences in class I could see that most of the higher level opening sequences had titles that lasted roughly 3-5 seconds, so I made the titles last longer than they actually were and now last around 3-4 seconds before transitioning into the next happy flashback clip.

Colour manipulation was also added to the extra footage in the opening sequence to make the blood in the scenes more effective and realistic. Changing the blood was quite hard as it could either look too red or too orange. I found that the best solution was to just change the lighting by turning up the whiteness and brightness of the clips, as well as the saturation and colour slightly as shown below. By making the clip brighter the sink in the scene outlined the shape of Sarah's hands more and made the paint (fake blood) look darker and therefore more realistic. The same technique was applied to all of the bathroom scenes containing blood to keep it continues, making sure there were no continuity errors.