Evaluation question 7

  • Researched Thriller

    imdbWe had to do research for the thriller genre in full. This was to help us with ideas for our opening title sequence. In lesson we watched lots of opening title sequences and had to analyse them also we used websites such as IMBD to find out about films. For the research we had to find out about the typical characters, narrative and mies-en-scene of thriller films. We also had to do two textual analysis on thriller films doing this helped us with ideas with our own opening title sequence.
  • Formed groups & planning for prelim exercise

    We were put into groups with people we didn’t know. We were told that we had to make a short film about a person walking somewhere and opening a door and sitting down and then talking to someone. We all gave each other roles, Kipp was the actor who would walk down the corridor, I was the camera man and Lottie was actor and director. We all agreed on these roles and started to do a story bored of all the shot that would be in the prelim and where it would be around the college.
  • Preliminary Exercise Filming

    For the prelim film we had to include 180 rule, show match on action and shot reverse shot also we had to try and do continuity filming. I was new to the camera and had to learn how to use it but after using it I saw that in the edit the shots looked good. The day of the filming went well and there were only some small continuity problems. The group worked great and we performed well in our roles. What I learnt from the prelim exercise is how to use the camera and this paid off for our OTS.
  • Opening Title Sequence - Initial ideas planning

    We were out into groups. When we were in groups we had to talk with each other and try and come up with ideas for a thriller film. I came up with an idea for a man who kills women and always see a red cross everywhere and then it turns out that he is insane and has been in a mental hospital the whole time. The grouped liked this idea so we then started to mould it to other people’s ideas until we came up with an idea that we all liked.
  • Opening Title Sequence - filming day planning

    We started creating story boards, recces, shot lists and costume and props ideas. For the story board we had the idea that it would be a man who follows the girls from a school to the bus stop this helped create an image in our minds. I did the recces of the places because I knew the location and lived closes. We knew what we wanted with the shot and came up with lots of ideas and this really helped on the filming day. we didn’t have a lot of ideas for the costumes and probs.
  • Filming day

    For the filming day I was very confident with the camera and felt I would be able to do a large variety of shots and angles. The day went very well and we had no problems expect the camera running out of battery but we went back to my house and did the rest of the filming there. The shot I was most proud of was the low angle looking up at Kipp from the side with the big light behind him this was shot at the class room that we made look like a photo studio.
  • Re-Film

    We had to do a re film of one of our scene because on the filming day the camera ran out of battery. The scene that we re filmed was the bus stop one. It went well and we did it in good time but there were a few problems with continuity with the weather and shots that we had done on the filming day so we decide to do some new shots that were not on the original shot list but this did not effect the overall end product of our film.
  • Filming Day Evaluation

    I think our end product is very successful because it shows the thriller genre by the way the mise-en-scene is show in it for example the black hooded jumper and the split personality with the mirror, also in the end product the photo studio that we made looks professional and the way the main character is shot makes him look very evil and this is how we wanted him to be ported to the audience. The only thing I would do differently next time would be checking that the camera has full battery.
  • Editing Stage

    The editing was a lot harder then when we did preliminary because there was so much more we had to add in a lot and do more techniques with the flashes and the sound effects. When we were filming we had thought about continuity while filming so kipp found it a lot easier to edit the transitions between each shot making it look good. kipp added flashes to the camera to make it stand out and be a more effective editing point from scene to scene he also put in a click to make the camera stand out.
  • Overall

    Overall the coursework period I have developed my skills with the camera for example I can use the camera and can see when a shot has the right exposure also over this period I have become more creative in shots and angles and feel that I can be more original if I had to do another film. I have also expanded my knowledge on film making with all the techniques of match on action and 180 degree rule. So overall my skills and knowledge of film making has improved a lot over the coursework period.