Our Thankyou's!

In order to show our appreciation to all of the people that have helped us complete our final media product we brought them a packet of  chocolates each as we could not have completed our film opening without them. Me and my partner felt very privileged to be able to work with them! The chocolates were handed out to:

Jon- For being the driver of our film as neither me or my partner know how to drive.

Arman- For playing the role of Spencer which meant he had to learn dialogue and give up a lot of free time.

Alina- For playing her part so well, and being so co-operative despite her young age.

ACTION PLAN

These are the tasks that should be completed by the end of the week.
Week Commencing Monday 31st December 2012

• Evaluation Questions 

Editing Process- FINISHED.

This was the last day that we had to finish editing our film before we broke up for our Christmas break. This meant that we would not have access to the Mac's or any other software which meant that it was vital we finished the final media product.

Today we used our time to fix up the following before distributing our final media product

• Any splits that need to be joined
• Change some of the title credits that we were unhappy about 
• Ensure that the music fitted and matched the clips 
• Ensure all transitions/filters were how we wanted to 
• Render all of the final product.

In today's lesson we wanted to finish our media film as we felt that this was capable as we had spent a lot of time on working on this. We watched the final product over and over again to ensure that there was not gaps that needed filling and joined shots that were not connected. After watching the clip so many times, me and my partner was unhappy about some of the credits in the blackout so we decided to change them in order to make them look better. We felt that some of the audio was out of place so we spend some time trying to accurately make the music fade in and out in the correct place.

Once all we had done all of this we had used up our final lesson time so we had to stay behind to export our final product to distribute to YouTube and gain feedback. I am very happy with what we have produced despite the apparent flaws in the video. I believe me and my partner have created something that we never thought we would finish and Its great to see something that we planned so earlier on into the school year finally created into a visual piece of media.
I am proud to present- 'Round The Bend'.

Music Choices

The following are the music choices that we have used in our film opening. We have used these because as you can see the title itself connotes the creepy/eerie music genre's that they are. We used the following as they was exactly what we wanted. We used software such as garageband in order to lower the pitch and edit the songs slightly to make them our own and this will help to ensure that the music doesn't over power the film opening as a whole.

Eerie background music 

Tension build up music 

Pier to nowhere- charlie song 

All of these songs are used specifically at a certain time in the opening.  

Editing process 3- 20/12/12

In today's editing process we wanted to add the final touches and add the music and audio affects that we needed to. This is what we have completed in today's lesson:

AIM- Add the music and audio effects effectively 

• Watched through the video and fix any errors
• Download potential music that we intend to use
• Use the music software called 'garageband' to edit the music
• Add in sound effects into the film opening at suitable times
• Add suitable music transitions 

In today's lesson our main aim was to ensure that we had completed the music and sound affects as we wanted to make sure that we used the most appropriate and suitable music in our film opening. Firstly we looked on YouTube for some music that we can use in the background. We search the tags 'eerie music' as this is what our audiences have stated what type of music they expect to see. After picking out the most suitable instrumentals we added them to garageband and lowered the pitch/speed in order to make it more appropriate for the clips that we wanted to use them for. Once we have placed our music onto the final cut software we then had to use suitable audio transitions/filters to fade the music in well and stop it abruptly playing out aloud. I think that we done this well and I am proud of how effective me and my partner completed them. 

We also added in some sound effects into our film opening. Basic sound effects that we had to adapt to our opening included simple things such as the phone noise which we had to film again via a microphone as this was too quiet to be heard in the original audio clip. Furthermore, we also used the sound effect of a door slamming as this was used dubbed out due to the sped up clip. We did this by filming my partner shutting another door via a site on the macs and then adding the audio clip to the door shutting when Lily is leaving the house. So far this has been a really good task completed and have enjoyed this very much. 

Editing process 2- 19/12/12

This is our second lesson to continue our editing. In this lesson we completed the following:

AIM- To create the finished product (except audio/effects)

• Finished completing the basic cuts, transitions and looping throughout the opening.
• Fixed all of the original audio that were attached with the clips by looping and deleting audio that we did no longer want/need. 
• Added the 'Summit Entertainment' to the beginning of the film clip 
• Added the film title, blackouts and title credits using a specialism software. 
• Watch the final product over and fix any further problems e.g. a split, audio malfunction. 

As you can see we hoped to complete a large amount of editing which in fact took us a lot more that just time available in lesson. Me and my partner worked hard in order to ensure that we was able to complete what we wanted to achieve. We used more new technology during this process for example the software used to create title credits. With this we was able to create our title credits just the way we wanted to and locate them anywhere in the shot which gave us a chance to experiment with this to find the most suitable place. We also learnt how to delete audio which we did not need by looping the audio, this was useful as it got rid of certain noises such as footsteps, breathing which were an inconvenient to and drawed the attention away. 

We also added the 'Summit Entertainment' at the very start of the video as this was the very first thing that we wanted our target audience to see. This meant that another further 20 seconds had to be added on film opening despite the fact that we had shortened it anyways but we knew that we had to have this in the opening. Once we downloaded and added the sequence at the beginning to our film opening and added all the credits we really felt that our opening was beginning to look like an actual film opening which was really good as we have already put a lot of time and effort into what we have done so far.

CHANGES!

We have had to make many different changes to our original planning of our film. The following outlines the changes that we have had to make in order to make our final product more efficient and professional. 

The main problem that me and my partner had was that the whole length of the film in total was far to long to fit into the 2 minute opening we was expected to make. This meant that we had to change and cut some of the shots that we have included in our planning and storyboarding in order to shorten the overall time. The shots that were taken out as a result were:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 28, 30, 34 and 37. All of these shots were filmed, but when it came to editing we then decided what we should cut and what we should keep. 

Because some of the shots were cut, it also meant that some of the dialogue also had to be cut as the shot was no longer relevant, this was partly due to camera faults (not picking up sound). We also had to use our class member's camera at one stage as our camera ran out of battery life as we was filming as we did'nt have access to a plug point. This was not good as when we went to adapt it into our filming stage during editing the screen size was different and the colour balance had changed meaning that we could'nt use those shots either. 

Editing Process- 17/12/12

This is our first editing process in which we completed the following:

AIM- To ensure the visual is correct 

• Picking out the most suitable clips from the shots that we have recorded and deleting the ones that we do not need. E.G. shots that we have filmed multiple times or have made a mistake on. 
• Using the converter program 'Toast' on macs to convert the video files so that it is compatible with the Final cut software.
• Creating a new project and beginning to edit our film.
• Adding all of the clips into one big piece and noticing that exceeded the time limit that we have for the opening. 
• Cutting the clips that we did not use, and shortening irrelevant shots in order to reduce the overall time. 
• Editing each shot individually and beginning to become more aware of the different tools on the program including 'cutting', transitions and modifying effects such as speed.

   

This was our very first time editing our film and it did not go as expected. The converting of files and uploading the content onto final cut was easy but once we realized that we had exceeded our time limit we were unsure about what to cut. This was a long process as we didn't want to get of the really good shots, and affect the plot of the opening so we found it difficult to decide which shots to cut. However after we managed reduce our overall time we were able to effectively start to editing the clips involved using tools such as the split button, cut button and implementing appropriate transition.

Because we have never used a program like this before it took some time for me and my partner to learn how to use the tools as effective as we could so after some tries we managed to use the tools how we wanted to use them. After some periods of time we were able to cut the shots into how we wanted them to be, although very few shots did not turn out well, the majority of them looked really good. We spent a lot of time during our two hour lesson completing this, and we are going to spend more time during our free periods tommorow in order to continue fixing up certain parts. 

ACTION PLAN

These are the tasks that should be completed by the end of the week.
Week Commencing Monday 17th December 2012

• Editing progress updates throughout the week
• Any changes

Filming Session 3

Here is an update on our final filming session:

Filming Session 2

An update on how our filming was today:

Filming Session 1

Here is our how our first filming session went:

ACTION PLAN

These are the tasks that should be completed by the end of the week.
Week Commencing Monday 10th December 2012

• Review of filming session 1
• Review of filming session 2
• Review of filming session 3

Camera Experiments

In today's lesson we experimented with two types of Camera in order to choose the most suitable one. The two camera that we had the option out of is:

Canon Legria FS200

Sony Xacti HD 

In order to choose the most suitable camera to use, me and my team member decided to test the different camera's out. Whilst using the different cameras we took into consideration the effectivness of both settings. For instance, we tested the white balance, colour settings, focus settings, zoom in/out and general sharpen of both camera's. 

After testing me and my partner believed that the Canon Legria FS200 was the most suitable camera. This is due to the ease of filming, the effective white balance and also because we have had experience with this camera previously. This camera was also chosen as it has the light at the front of the camera which we thought was useful, especially since we filmed in dark settings. However, although we have chosen this camera, the Sony Xacti did have further benefits that our chosen camera does not have, for example the picture quality is better and also the size of the camera is more suitable. This does not outweigh our opinion on our the Canon Legria FS200 as we know that during the editing process we are able to adjust and edit sections that we feel unsure about. 

Media Intern Task

What similar films did you research before starting this coursework piece and why?
For our film opening we analysed three other films who have the same 'crime thriller' genre.The reason why we decided to do this was to see what other codes and conventions crime thriller films should have so that we could ensure that we included this. For instance one of the major conventions included high key lighting in at least 2-3 shots and this was demonstrated in all films that I have analysed accentuating for us to include this. Furthermore, other conventions that we were often demonstrated included dull and dim colours, quick shots and a lot of close ups all of which we included into our planning. 

Who are your primary audience and how will you attract the to your film? (age rating, psychographic profile, uses and gratifications)
We have agreed on the age certificate of 15 as the plot of the thriller film may be sensitive to viewers emotionally. Also, due to previous research into the thriller films they had the age certificate of either '12' or '15' which accentuates that this is the most common age for this genre of film. Knowing this, it allowed us to look into research about what our age range, for instance how often they attend the cinema. By looking at cinema websites we found this age was most likely to attend the cinema as they has more time to persue social activities such as going to the cinema.

What were the main reasons behind the choices of location, actors. costumes and props for your movie?




Name the film company and explain the roles you have been undertaking over the past 6 weeks and what has been your biggest challenge? (time management, use of technology and organisation)



What did I learn from completing the preliminary task?
The preliminary task was very useful as it made us more aware of how important it was to follow a strict plan. For instance we had to follow our storyboards closely making sure that every step was shot accordingly and that the correct camera shot was used at the correct time. For me, the task showed me the importance of following a plan. 

How many shots (inc. insitutional logos) are included in your two minute opening and which are most relevant?

Reflect on your skills in using video camera and editing software and what further editing choices I intend to use in the next 3 weeks (e.g. music)?

Is the narrative, dialogue, mis-en-scene I've used typical to the thriller genre?

How have I considered lighting effectively in the film opening?


How many credits are to appear in your production?
(In order) 

1. Arman Khan as Spencer Fox
2. Alina Hussain as Lily Fox
3. Ted Hazell and Joseph Hawke 
4. Written by Ted Hazell
5. In association with Summit Entertainment 
6. Directed by Kiran Saghir and Ted Hazell
7. Filmed by Kiran Saghir 
8. Inspired by a true story 

How do I intend to receive feedback and distribute my film opening?

ACTION PLAN

These are the tasks that should be completed by the end of the week.
Week Commencing Monday 3rd December 2012

• Media intern task 
• Camera choices