Tuesday 22 March 2011

Final Result: Feedback

After finishing the sequence we watched all the other groups projects in our class. We then got one good point and one constructive criticism back from each individual.

Good:
  • Voiceover good
  • Good effects used
  • Sound effects well linked with the genre
  • Handheld shots
  • Good use of POV shots
  • Was entertaining
  • Good range of shots
  • Music was weird but effective
  • Good production logo

Bad:
  • Sound messy
  • Sound didn't flow between the scenes
  • Speech is unclear
  • Story-line was confusing at times - but this was the aim of the genre
  • Wind is distracting
  • Clever editing

Monday 21 March 2011

Final Result

Above is the final video of the sequence. Now that we have completed the editing stage of our thriller project, we have exported the sequence using the settings in the screenshot below. 

Technical Equipment

We have a range of technical equipment which would be used to create the project. The first thing we used was the camera, it was better quality as we could film in HD. It was more efficient using a digital camera as  each clip is separated into clips, so adding and cutting during the editing stage is easier.


The tripod was the second piece of equipment which we used, it balances the camera and can be adjusted to different heights. We found that in a thriller film the tripod is used less as it is more conventional to use handheld shots. Therefore we did have some handheld shots.

As well as these handheld shots we thought it would be good to have some moving shots, and so originally tested a dolly out. Unfortunately it was too shaky and noisy for filming with, and we found that would could move the tripod like a dolly - this was more effective.  In professional filming tracks are used with dollys to move the camera smoothly. Below is a picture of a similar dolly to ours.
During the editing stage we used three pieces of software. The main one was Final Cut Express for cutting and ordering clips, importing music, adding transitions and then finally exporting the sequence. We used this program over iMovie, for example, because it is more powerful and has more professional effects. Superimposing clips was one really important part of our sequence, and could have only been done in a more advanced program like Final Cut.


For the music we used Garageband, the advantage of this was that it has a large library of loops that can be arranged together to create a unique sounding sequence. There are some limitations to this, but using more advanced software like Logic Express or Studio would have meant creating our own sounds.


The next piece of technical equipment/software was Photoshop. Using layers we were able to create the production logo which was edited into a ident. We also used Photoshop for creating the credits, the font was taken from DaFont, it represents the genre of a psychological thriller well. We wouldn't have been able to create something as advanced/unique without Photoshop.


The last, less technical, piece of equipment is the use of the blog through Safari. It was important to use this in order to record our research. Below is a screenshot of our blog posts.

Friday 18 March 2011

Editing: Progress After Feedback

Since the feedback session we have succeeded in improving our sequence based upon suggestions made by other groups. We have been able to add in the ident production logo, along with some transitions which have added to overall atmosphere for the audience. It was also important to look through the entire sequence so that we could make the cuts more accurate, and so the audio was timed correctly. Below are some screenshots to show our editing progress.

Timeline in Final Cut Express

Ident with 'bad tv' effect.

Monday 14 March 2011

Plan For The Next Two Days

We are going to working on the final editing of the who film. We will tighten up the soundtrack, making the video noise quieter so it does not interfere with the music and music. We will also make our transactions better. We will all contribute to the work on the two days to make sure we are all happy with the final result.

Response to Feedback

Our rough cut has been viewed by the other groups in our class and they have left useful constructive criticism on our blog. One of the main issues brought up is the audio problems i.e. diegetic sound getting in the way of dialogue, For this we can try and level out as much we can with the non-diegetic soundtrack.
Another issue raised is that we haven't included many transitions, for this we plan to add more in the coming days. Also they suggested that we included our production logo in our sequence which we shall add in the coming days of final editing.

Group 66: Feedback

- The dialogue was good.
- The idea for the plot was good.
- You could tell it was a psychological thriller.
- Well thought out script.

- The audio was not consistent.
- The effect of the man appearing and disappearing was a bit choppy.