This is my final piece of editing.
Could anybody reading this please comment below with positive and negative feedback. Thank you
After having responded to feedback from peers I re-attempted my opening sequence which can be found here
I will now begin on my evaluation
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Week 11 - Editing
After filming my opening sequence I can now go into post production and begin editing my film.
I uploaded my film in iMovie as when I tried uploading into Final Cut Pro the sound would not upload with the film which was a mojor problem, however uploading into iMovie solved the situation.
After uploading I decided to piece the film together in iMovie as I find it an easier program to use for pieceing together a series of film clips. I then edited in Final Cut Pro.
As iMovie saves the film as a whole sequence and not a series of sequences I had to cut down each shot in Final Cut Pro with the cut tool.
I then began experimenting with different effects in Final Cut Pro as I was not familair with what each of them did, I did this untill the desired effect was achieved. I achieved this with a: Radial Blur, Colour Tint (green) and colour style.
Once I was happy with the visual editing I began on the auditory editing. I wanted the film to be mostly natural so there was mostly non-diegetic audio used however there is some diegetic sounds, which is used to build tension over the non-diegetic sounds.
I used garage band to create the music, I selected the base tracks that I thought fitted best into the film and used the master editing to change the tone and pitch of the notes, often changing each note indidually. It was a long task but was worth it I believe.
I then recorded a friend growling for the creatures growl and put a deeper vocals effect onto it to make it sound much more feral and eerie.
I also chose to have a soft tune in the background as the tension was raised in the scene.
I got inspiration for the title design from this website:
http://www.psdvault.com/text-effects/design-a-horror-style-text-effect-with-dirt-and-splatter-texture-in-photoshop/
Here are some images of my editing process in the titles:
I uploaded my film in iMovie as when I tried uploading into Final Cut Pro the sound would not upload with the film which was a mojor problem, however uploading into iMovie solved the situation.
After uploading I decided to piece the film together in iMovie as I find it an easier program to use for pieceing together a series of film clips. I then edited in Final Cut Pro.
As iMovie saves the film as a whole sequence and not a series of sequences I had to cut down each shot in Final Cut Pro with the cut tool.
I then began experimenting with different effects in Final Cut Pro as I was not familair with what each of them did, I did this untill the desired effect was achieved. I achieved this with a: Radial Blur, Colour Tint (green) and colour style.
Once I was happy with the visual editing I began on the auditory editing. I wanted the film to be mostly natural so there was mostly non-diegetic audio used however there is some diegetic sounds, which is used to build tension over the non-diegetic sounds.
I used garage band to create the music, I selected the base tracks that I thought fitted best into the film and used the master editing to change the tone and pitch of the notes, often changing each note indidually. It was a long task but was worth it I believe.
I then recorded a friend growling for the creatures growl and put a deeper vocals effect onto it to make it sound much more feral and eerie.
I also chose to have a soft tune in the background as the tension was raised in the scene.
I got inspiration for the title design from this website:
http://www.psdvault.com/text-effects/design-a-horror-style-text-effect-with-dirt-and-splatter-texture-in-photoshop/
Here are some images of my editing process in the titles:
Week 10 - Filming
This week I also filmed my opening sequence.
As my shots were uotdoors they were very weather dependant, luckily the weather was good enough to film in. I did however bring an umbrella along with me incase of rain.
Before I went out filming I ensured that the battery was charged and that I has a spare battery with me. I also ensured that the tape in the camera was new and brought along a spare incase anything happened to it.
Due to some time cheduling errors Jamie could not attend filming untill later in the day, I therefore made the deicision to change the opening to have Ruby studying in her room and recieve the text message instead of Alex, this decision has no relevance to the plot of the film but made filming easier.
I also took the time to familiarize myself with different camera shots and angles:
Shots
Long Shot - This shows the entire subject in the frame
Mid Shot - This shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject
Close Up - This is when part of the subject takes up the fill frame
Extreme Close Up - This is when the close up is shown in more detail, often just of eyes or a mouth
Two-Shot - A mid shot with two subjects framed similarly
Over-The-Shoulder - A shot of the back of one subject in the foreground and the front of another in the background
Point-of-view - A shot from one subjects point of view
Angles
Eye-level - This is the most neutral shot, it shows the subject as we would usually see it
High-angle - This shot has the camera at a high angle, looking down at the subject. It makes the subject less powerful and sigificant
Low-angle - This shot has the camera at a low angle, looking up at the subject. It makes the subject more powerful and dominant
I used all of these shots and angles in my opening sequence, which I will describe in more detail in my next post.
As my shots were uotdoors they were very weather dependant, luckily the weather was good enough to film in. I did however bring an umbrella along with me incase of rain.
Before I went out filming I ensured that the battery was charged and that I has a spare battery with me. I also ensured that the tape in the camera was new and brought along a spare incase anything happened to it.
Due to some time cheduling errors Jamie could not attend filming untill later in the day, I therefore made the deicision to change the opening to have Ruby studying in her room and recieve the text message instead of Alex, this decision has no relevance to the plot of the film but made filming easier.
I also took the time to familiarize myself with different camera shots and angles:
Shots
Long Shot - This shows the entire subject in the frame
Mid Shot - This shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject
Close Up - This is when part of the subject takes up the fill frame
Extreme Close Up - This is when the close up is shown in more detail, often just of eyes or a mouth
Two-Shot - A mid shot with two subjects framed similarly
Over-The-Shoulder - A shot of the back of one subject in the foreground and the front of another in the background
Point-of-view - A shot from one subjects point of view
Angles
Eye-level - This is the most neutral shot, it shows the subject as we would usually see it
High-angle - This shot has the camera at a high angle, looking down at the subject. It makes the subject less powerful and sigificant
Low-angle - This shot has the camera at a low angle, looking up at the subject. It makes the subject more powerful and dominant
I used all of these shots and angles in my opening sequence, which I will describe in more detail in my next post.
Week 10 - Storyboard and Casting
This week I completed the storyboards for my opening sequence which can be seen below.
My original storyboard was longer but I decided to shorten it as the opening sequence is only two minutes long and my original idea would have been much longer.
I also cut down the dialogue a lot to only one line at the end which will be Ruby's voiceover "Isnt it ironic, the day I died, my life began." This is the hook that will make the audience want to watch the rest of my film.
As you can see from the storyboard the arrows show the direction of movement and where the shot description is "shakey cam" it shows the narrative switch to the creature. The opening sequence shows a lot of movement which will also help build tension with the combination of music and camera shots as the audience will be curious as to what will happen.
The cast members I have chosen are
Ruby - Jessi Hill
Alex - Jamie Clack
I chose these actors as Jessi is currently studying drama at college and Jamie has previously studied it, therefore it seemed the logical choice.
My original storyboard was longer but I decided to shorten it as the opening sequence is only two minutes long and my original idea would have been much longer.
I also cut down the dialogue a lot to only one line at the end which will be Ruby's voiceover "Isnt it ironic, the day I died, my life began." This is the hook that will make the audience want to watch the rest of my film.
As you can see from the storyboard the arrows show the direction of movement and where the shot description is "shakey cam" it shows the narrative switch to the creature. The opening sequence shows a lot of movement which will also help build tension with the combination of music and camera shots as the audience will be curious as to what will happen.
The cast members I have chosen are
Ruby - Jessi Hill
Alex - Jamie Clack
I chose these actors as Jessi is currently studying drama at college and Jamie has previously studied it, therefore it seemed the logical choice.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Week 9 - Movie Title
After writing the plot synopsis I needed to think of a name for the film
At first I was thinking up longer names for the film, and then I started researching conventions of horror films.
They generally only contain one or two words related to either the antagonist or the plot of the film. Eg.
Frankenstein (1910)
The Golem (1915)
The Phantom of The Opera (1925)
Dracula (1931)
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Psycho (1960)
The Exorcist (1973)
Alien (1979)
Friday The 13th (1980)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Predator (1987)
The Grudge (2004)
Based on this research I have decided to name my film
The Succubus.
"In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a demon who takes the form of a woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse. In modern times, a succubus may or may not appear in dreams and is often depicted as highly attractive, while in the past succubi were depicted as frightening and demonic."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succubus
As you can see this description is similar to the creature in my film, I have just made the creature more modern, instead of appearing in just dreams the creature is real and is an actual woman who can just transform at will.
At first I was thinking up longer names for the film, and then I started researching conventions of horror films.
They generally only contain one or two words related to either the antagonist or the plot of the film. Eg.
Frankenstein (1910)
The Golem (1915)
The Phantom of The Opera (1925)
Dracula (1931)
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Psycho (1960)
The Exorcist (1973)
Alien (1979)
Friday The 13th (1980)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Predator (1987)
The Grudge (2004)
Based on this research I have decided to name my film
The Succubus.
"In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a demon who takes the form of a woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse. In modern times, a succubus may or may not appear in dreams and is often depicted as highly attractive, while in the past succubi were depicted as frightening and demonic."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succubus
As you can see this description is similar to the creature in my film, I have just made the creature more modern, instead of appearing in just dreams the creature is real and is an actual woman who can just transform at will.
Week 9 - Codes and Conventions of a horror film
Unusual murder/death – The killer is either unknown or known and is perceived as supernatural
My film follows this convention as the Other is an unholy supernatural being.
The title follows the horror genre – Blood splatter font etc.
My film will follow this convention once I am in the post-production.
Main characters – usually teenage or younger generally youthful
My film follows this convention as the main characters are teengers
Mysterious/unknown characters – Silhouetted characters, dubbed voices etc.
My film follows this convention as the Other is unknown untill near the end of the film
Heroism from the protagonist - Sometimes unsuccessful.
My film follows this convention as at the beginning there is an unsuccessful act of heroism as the male character doesn't save the female in time
Victim unprotected - Usually killed by the Other unless another supernatural force saves them
My film follows this convention as the victim of the creature at the beginning of the film is unprotected
My film follows this convention as the Other is an unholy supernatural being.
The title follows the horror genre – Blood splatter font etc.
My film will follow this convention once I am in the post-production.
Main characters – usually teenage or younger generally youthful
My film follows this convention as the main characters are teengers
Mysterious/unknown characters – Silhouetted characters, dubbed voices etc.
My film follows this convention as the Other is unknown untill near the end of the film
Heroism from the protagonist - Sometimes unsuccessful.
My film follows this convention as at the beginning there is an unsuccessful act of heroism as the male character doesn't save the female in time
Victim unprotected - Usually killed by the Other unless another supernatural force saves them
My film follows this convention as the victim of the creature at the beginning of the film is unprotected
Week 9 - Analysis of similar movies
I decided to analyse the opening sequence of three movies of the same genre to mine, to get a better feel of the codes and conventions of the genre, this also helps me better understand my own movie opening and what it should be like.
My first movie was Bram Stoker's Dracula
I chose this movie becuase it is a classic movie in the horror genre, and most people have heard of it. It also has a human-like antagonist similar to my own movie.
The second movie I chose was The Blair Witch Project
Again this is a very well known movie in this genre, it is also quite old like Dracula. However this movie also had a very low budget much like my own film.
The final movie I chose was Jennifer's Body
I chose this film because the antagonist of the movie is based on a Succubus, much like my own movie. It is also a teen horror film, like my own. It is the newest of the films I chose and I wanted variation in the release years of the films I chose to analyse.
Analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula opening
Before any image is seen on screen we hear music, orchestral, it starts off slow and quiet and builds up the volume and pace to add tension. This is done over the religious imagery of the crucifix falling and smashing on the ground. The voiceover then comes in and sets the scene and what has previously happened. It also brings in the title character, Dracula, but before we see him we see his silhouette in-front of fire, this connotes anger and passion. There is also a slight orange glow to everything we see which reinforces this connotation. We then see Dracula’s wife, which shows us that the man has a back-story and that the passion the fire connoted was true. We then see Dracula in his battle armour, which is red and appears demonic this connotes his anger and fury. Next there are shots of fire and Dracula fighting in the war killing those around him. The final image in the two minute opening is of the dead warriors that Dracula has murdered impaled on spears, with a red fiery background.
Overall this opening is very action packed and brings the viewer straight into the narrative, establishing the titular character and a brief back-story but also the gory murder that he commits at war. The dialogue is very small, only a voiceover that establishes what is happening to the viewer and the music does an excellent job at building tension.
Analysis of the Blair Witch Project opening
The film opens silently, which is a large contrast to Dracula. There is a black background with the title of the film towards the left of the screen, in a very plain font. Next there is a written description of what has happened before the film. The first image we see is of somebody’s hand using a home camcorder, the camera is very shaky but it is to get the desired effect. The female character on screen is describing what she is doing, which also sets the film for the viewer; she is taking a trip to explore the Blair Witch. The sound quality is very poor as it is filmed on a camcorder, but it is filmed in a documentary style which is done to bring the viewer into the film even more than usual, it is as if we are watching their memories, and seems quite voyeuristic.
Overall this opening is quite boring compared to Dracula, but it is also successful in drawing the viewer in as we want to know what the Blair Witch is and what is so interesting about it. The home documentary style filming also brings the audience in as I previously said it is quite voyeuristic in nature to watch somebody else’s home video but we want to know more about these people and what happened to them.
Analysis of Jennifer’s Body opening
This film opens with an establishing shot of a house, it is night time. There is also eerie music which builds tension. The narrative is split into two; one of which is introducing the main character with various close up shot of her scratching her arm and eating some sweets, and also some mid shots showing her lying on a bed watching TV, whilst the other narrative is of some creature running up to the house and creeping around to watch the girl the through the window, however we are unaware of whether or not it is a creature or not until the narrative switches back to the girl and we see the creature in the window behind her. The images of the girl all connote sexuality; the extreme close up of her eating sweet, the slow tilting of the camera from her legs up to her face etc. The talking in the opening is also very minimal, much like Dracula, as is only has a voiceover, however unlike Dracula this does not establish the scene it only says, “Hell is a teenage girl” and then the scene changes.
Overall this final opening is also different to the previous two, although it does seem to follow the general conventions of minimal dialogue and builds the tension of the film through music and camera angles, it is lacking in the action of most horror films.The title of Jennifer’s Body is also written in a very feminine pink curly font, which seems out of place in a horror film.
I have also decided to edit my opening script to minimalize the dialogue and also cut down the characters to fit in with the conventions I have found due to this analysis.
My first movie was Bram Stoker's Dracula
I chose this movie becuase it is a classic movie in the horror genre, and most people have heard of it. It also has a human-like antagonist similar to my own movie.
The second movie I chose was The Blair Witch Project
Again this is a very well known movie in this genre, it is also quite old like Dracula. However this movie also had a very low budget much like my own film.
The final movie I chose was Jennifer's Body
I chose this film because the antagonist of the movie is based on a Succubus, much like my own movie. It is also a teen horror film, like my own. It is the newest of the films I chose and I wanted variation in the release years of the films I chose to analyse.
Analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula opening
Before any image is seen on screen we hear music, orchestral, it starts off slow and quiet and builds up the volume and pace to add tension. This is done over the religious imagery of the crucifix falling and smashing on the ground. The voiceover then comes in and sets the scene and what has previously happened. It also brings in the title character, Dracula, but before we see him we see his silhouette in-front of fire, this connotes anger and passion. There is also a slight orange glow to everything we see which reinforces this connotation. We then see Dracula’s wife, which shows us that the man has a back-story and that the passion the fire connoted was true. We then see Dracula in his battle armour, which is red and appears demonic this connotes his anger and fury. Next there are shots of fire and Dracula fighting in the war killing those around him. The final image in the two minute opening is of the dead warriors that Dracula has murdered impaled on spears, with a red fiery background.
Overall this opening is very action packed and brings the viewer straight into the narrative, establishing the titular character and a brief back-story but also the gory murder that he commits at war. The dialogue is very small, only a voiceover that establishes what is happening to the viewer and the music does an excellent job at building tension.
Analysis of the Blair Witch Project opening
The film opens silently, which is a large contrast to Dracula. There is a black background with the title of the film towards the left of the screen, in a very plain font. Next there is a written description of what has happened before the film. The first image we see is of somebody’s hand using a home camcorder, the camera is very shaky but it is to get the desired effect. The female character on screen is describing what she is doing, which also sets the film for the viewer; she is taking a trip to explore the Blair Witch. The sound quality is very poor as it is filmed on a camcorder, but it is filmed in a documentary style which is done to bring the viewer into the film even more than usual, it is as if we are watching their memories, and seems quite voyeuristic.
Overall this opening is quite boring compared to Dracula, but it is also successful in drawing the viewer in as we want to know what the Blair Witch is and what is so interesting about it. The home documentary style filming also brings the audience in as I previously said it is quite voyeuristic in nature to watch somebody else’s home video but we want to know more about these people and what happened to them.
Analysis of Jennifer’s Body opening
This film opens with an establishing shot of a house, it is night time. There is also eerie music which builds tension. The narrative is split into two; one of which is introducing the main character with various close up shot of her scratching her arm and eating some sweets, and also some mid shots showing her lying on a bed watching TV, whilst the other narrative is of some creature running up to the house and creeping around to watch the girl the through the window, however we are unaware of whether or not it is a creature or not until the narrative switches back to the girl and we see the creature in the window behind her. The images of the girl all connote sexuality; the extreme close up of her eating sweet, the slow tilting of the camera from her legs up to her face etc. The talking in the opening is also very minimal, much like Dracula, as is only has a voiceover, however unlike Dracula this does not establish the scene it only says, “Hell is a teenage girl” and then the scene changes.
Overall this final opening is also different to the previous two, although it does seem to follow the general conventions of minimal dialogue and builds the tension of the film through music and camera angles, it is lacking in the action of most horror films.The title of Jennifer’s Body is also written in a very feminine pink curly font, which seems out of place in a horror film.
I have also decided to edit my opening script to minimalize the dialogue and also cut down the characters to fit in with the conventions I have found due to this analysis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)