Editing Our Preliminary Task

  Editing our Preliminary Task.
Our blog just after we posted.



By Scott Cawkwell

Photos Of Our Preliminary Set

This is the staircase that we used  to film our first couple of shots.

This is the door that we walked through halfway through the scene.



















By Scott Cawkwell

Preliminary Activity

This is our finished priliminary activity.

By Bart Lang, Scott Cawkwell, Josh Thomas and Ian Slade.

Post Production Preliminary Evaluation

When we were editing the preliminary activity we found that the speech during the dialogue was inaudible and the wind noise in the other shots made it sound unprofessional. I then decided to remove the raw audio from the video and replace it with a tense, pacey drum track I recorded myself. For the conversation part, I decided to re-dub the audio by recording the exchanges again later in the editing studio using a microphone. This meant the audio was clear and high quality but, we had trouble syncing the audio with the speech. This was what most of our time editing was composed of. When we did this and played it back to ourselves after uploading it to YouTube, we found the final exchange to be far louder than all the others. We put this down to the voice actor holding the microphone too close to his face. This should be avoidable in the main task because we now know the affect it can have on the audio. Furthermore, we plan to stay away from dialogue in general.

Any further problems were avoided due to the use of our storyboard. This meant we had a clear image in each of our heads of what we wanted to do. This meant we filmed quickly and easily, and had time to try new shots and perfect current ones. This is a lesson we will definitely take to our main thriller because it helped us significantly in the prelim task.

Overall the prelim was definitely a useful task to do because we learned how to use our cameras and editing software. This will give us one less hurdle to jump in the main task and allow us more time for blogging and any re-shoots we need to do.  In terms of editing we learned how to do basic cuts and fades. We also learned how to use effects and change them to suit. We also learned what looks good on an actual film. We also learnt about how different length of take gives a different feel to a scene and how to make the audience differentiate between real time and reel time.

We have had positive feedback from many peers and both our teachers. One teacher, upon first seeing it described it as “epic”. However many people did comment on the aforementioned loudness of the final exchange of dialogue.

The final preliminary we had did not match the image we had in our head. This was mainly because we filmed in a different location to where we wanted to at first. This actually turned out to be an advantage due to the better lighting conditions and cleaner look of the place we finally settled on so we figured it was for the better. We also added in a quick establishing shot of a CCTV camera to make it clear to the audience we were filming from the perspective of a surveillance camera, due to audience feedback.

By Bart Lang

Production Of Our Preliminary Task

When we filmed our preliminary task we had a few problems, these problems included, when we were filming on the staircase we had people always trying to walk so we had to tell them to wait until we had finished the scene, this was annoying as some people did not listen and walked down with us so we had to then walk to the top of the stairs and start again.   Another problem we had with our prelim was that when we went outside to film our voices could not be heard over the wind so we had to dub the voices in later.  Also it started to rain so we had to quickly rush all the shots before it rained.  The final problem we had was that the camera was slowly running out of batteries and we had none spare so once again we had to make sure our shots were quick and over and done quickly with no out takes.  

Our group learnt a lot of lessons from doing our preliminary task, one of these lessons was that we should always make sure that the camera has fresh batteries in them and also we should always bring spare batteries as if we run out on set then it would be very difficult leaving the set and try to find a place that sells batteries.   Another lesson we have learnt for the main task is to make sure that nobody speaks in our film as the cameras are not good when it comes to picking up sound so we had to take further measures to make sure our voices could be heard. 

I do not think the shooting took long as we did not have to do a lot and as we were used to the camera as we used our own camera.  Also as there was a group of us there we all discussed our ideas and then put them onto camera and after we filmed everything it was then up to our group to choose what shots go where and if we needed to re-film anything, but after looking at all the shots we decided that nothing needed changing so then we edited it.  Also the main person who actually filmed the shots does photography outside of sixth form it was easier for us as we had his advice on the lighting and the framing of the shot, this helped us a lot as because of this advice we managed to choose a location which had near perfect conditions. 

I do not think that our group would change anything that we did for the preliminary task as we worked well together and the final production was a mixture of all our work and not just one person’s ideas.  The preliminary task really helped our group as it showed us all that we can all come up with ideas and that our group is capable of creating, filming and editing a piece of work that can become really good.

By Scott Cawkwell

Pre-Production (Planning your prelim)

For our pre-production we started with making a storyboard to plan our prelim. The storyboard was useful to us because it helped us plan our prelim and also helped us decide the type of shot, how many seconds the shot would be, if we was going to use a cut, fade or dissolve, the shot size, the camera angle, the lighting, the colours in frame, the setting of the shot, props, costumes and sounds that were going to be involved in the shot. Also the storyboard helped us visualise the shot as we drew a picture of what the shot would look like and also have a brief description of the action in the shot.

Also before we started filming our prelim Year 13 students that had taken Media Studies in Year 12 helped us with learning how we used the cameras and tripods. This was helpful as some of us may not have known how to use the cameras or tripods before and we learned knew things about how to use the cameras and how to set up the tripods, also another factor is that the Year 13 students had been in our position before whilst making our prelim. This helped as they knew our situation and knew tips to give us as they had been in our position before.

Before we started our prelim we had watched other prelims from years before. This gave us an idea of how we should shoot our prelim and how long it should be. It also gave us ideas on what to do our prelim on. Errors we saw in these prelims was that some camera angles shouldn’t have been used, props, setting and the actual plan of the prelim. We learned lessons from these on what not to do in our prelim and what to do. This gave us ideas on how to structure our prelim and what type of camera angles should be used within it.

By Joshua Thomas

Preliminary Storyboard

This is the two page storyboard for our preliminary activity.

By Joshua Thomas, Ian Slade, Bart Lang and Scott Cawkwell

Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics – “Demographic” or “Demographic Profile” is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. This involves age bands, social class bands and gender.

A demographic profile can be used to determine when and where advertising should be placed so the advertisement can achieve very good results. It is important that the advertiser gets a lot of results for their money, and so research is done to match the demographic profile of the target market to the demographic profile of the advertisement. For instance, shortly after the cancellation of Star Trek in 1969, NBC's marketing department complained that was premature or to early. They explained that their newly instituted demographic audience profiling techniques indicated that the series' main young urban audience was highly desirable for advertisers.

Psychographics - In the field of marketing, demographics, opinion research, and social research in general, psychographic variables are any attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. They are also called IAO variables (for Interests, Activities, and Opinions). They can be contrasted with demographic variables (such as age and gender), behavioural variables (such as usage rate or loyalty), and firmographic variables (such as industry, seniority and functional area).

By Joshua Thomas

The BBFC

BBFC Research

With the creation of any type of movie, an age boundary must be put into action by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) there are 5 main age classifications which include;

 U rating, this stands for, suitable for all audiences except for those under the age of 4. U films should have a positive framework and should offer counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror, which may offend anyone of a young age.

 PG rating stands for Parental Guidance. Basically this means that anybody can watch it, but there may be some disturbing scenes for children, so it’s advised that you watch it with a parent if you are a young child.

 12a/12 rating is used when there is material in a film which isn’t suitable for anyone under the age of 12 years old. 12a and 12 both mean the same thing except, 12a is used as a cinema rating whereas 12 is used as a retail rating, but both mean exactly the same thing, may contain moderate violence etc.

 15 rating basically means that no one under the age of 15 may go and watch the film at the cinema or rent and/or buy the product, may contain violence etc.

 18 rating basically means that no one under the age of 18 may go and watch the film at the cinema or rent and/or buy the product, may contain bloody violence or sexual references etc.

Thrillers usually come under the age ratings: 12, 15 or 18, but the more intense or gory sort of films usually fall in the 15 or 18 age bracket. For example the film The Expendables is a more intense action thriller which comes under the rating of 15, and the Saw films are a more gory sort of horror thriller which come under the age rating of 18.

We are planning of rating our thriller a 15 because from our initial idea, it will contain moderate violence, but nothing gory, it may disturb a younger audience, but it may not disturb those of the age 15 or over.

By Ian Slade

Photos of Us Drawing Our Storyboard



We made sure to storyboard our preliminary first, before we shot. This insured that we knew exactly what to shoot, which meant we didn't waste any time when we did get the camera. It also meant we could consider our choices over a longer period of time and carefully consider how we would use sound, mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing to our advantage. This also helped us to decide where and how we would include the elements the specifications told us to. These included a match on action, shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule.

Bart Lang

Camera Shots

Close Up

A zoomed in shot of an object or person. Mainly used to show a person’s facial expressions and reactions. Also establishes a relationship with the person.

Mid Shot

A shot of a person from the waist up. Often shows the action the person taking. Establishes no real emotional connection.

Long Shot

A shot showing a person’s whole body and to see their surroundings. Gives a sense of isolation and surroundings.

Medium Long Shot

A shot showing the whole of a person but not much of the surroundings.

Extreme Long Shot

Normally used to show all of the surroundings around a certain person or object. But also shows significant isolation, vulnerability or loneliness.

Extreme Close-Up

A very zoomed in shot. Normally used on a person. Shows extreme emotion and connection to a character. Can be used on an object to show its significance.

Aerial Shot

Aerial shots are usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes or for establishing shots.

Low-Angle Shot

Any shot below the eyeline, looking up. Gives power and domination to the person or object being looked upon.

Over the shoulder shot

A shot of someone or something taken over the shoulder of another person. Shows conversations or reactions.

Point of view shot

Shows what a character is exactly seeing from his view. Often used for perspective and to induce emotion and empathy for the character.

Two-Shot

A shot that shows two people in it. Normally shows the relationship between the two people.

Establishing Shot

Sets the location of a scene. Often from high above and tells the audience exactly where they are.

By Joshua Thomas

Match On Action, Shot Reverse Shot and 180° Rule

Match On Action
A match on action is two different shots of the same thing at the same time, for example two different angles which could be, front and side angles for example. But it must give the person viewing your piece the idea that these shots are happening at the same time.

Shot Reverse Shot
A shot reverse shot is mainly used in a conversation between two people, so that the audience can see both the person who is talking and the person who is in the conversation with them. The most common technique is to film all of one person's lines then all of the other's. It is also used to catch important reactions into the conversation.                                       

180° Rule

The 180° rule is a basic rule in the film industry that states that two people or objects in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. The camera is not allowed to rotate more that 180°. This is to minimise confusion and ensure the scene makes sense. However, certain techniques intend to break this rule to create different effects.







By Ian Slade

Thriller Questionnaire - Completed By Someone Else

Questionnaire

1)      Are you male or female?

M                                            F

2)      What age category do you fall under?

10 – 15                  16 – 25                  26 – 50                  50+

3)       Where would you say most thrillers you have seen are set?

Forest                   City                        Warehouse        Isolated area

4)       Do you think we should set our thriller in any of the areas above?

Yes                         No

5)       If yes where and why?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6)       If no where and why?

Because it will be very clichéd if you use these areas and your thriller would then not look very good as it will be same old same old

7)      What expectations do you have of the thriller genre?

Fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through as you are nervous and anxious about what is going to happen

8)       Should the thriller title only be one word?

Yes                         No

9)       Should there be a red herring/double cross?

Yes                         No

10)    What sub-genre should our thriller be? (e.g. medical thriller, action thriller, disaster thriller)

Horror Thriller

11)    Do you suggest we use a hybrid sub – genre (a sub-genre made up of two genres e.g. sci-fi thriller) if so which one?

I do not suggest a sub-genre

12)    What do you think the protagonists should wear?

I think the protagonists should wear dark clothes just to add more tension and keep to keep people worried about those characters

By Scott Cawkwell

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1)      Are you male or female?

M                                            F

2)      What age category do you fall under?

10 – 15                  16 – 25                  26 – 50                  50+

3)       Where would you say most thrillers you have seen are set?

Forest                   City                        Warehouse        isolated area

4)       Do you think we should set our thriller in any of the areas above?

Yes                         No

5)       If yes where and why?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6)       If no where and why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7)      What expectations do you have of the thriller genre? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8)       Should the thriller title only be one word?

Yes                         No

9)       Should there be a red herring/double cross?

Yes                         No

10)    What sub-genre should our thriller be? (e.g. medical thriller, action thriller, disaster thriller)

…………………………………………………………………………

11)    Do you suggest we use a hybrid sub – genre (a sub-genre made up of two genres e.g. sci-fi thriller) if so which one?

……………………………………………….

12)    What do you think the protagonists should wear

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

By Scott Cawkwell

Textual Analysis Of An Opening To A Thriller Chosen By Your Teacher

Cape Fear

The credit sequence at the beginning of the Cape Fear extract had a small italic font with italic and jagged writing. The colour white is used in the font because that is one of the three main colours in an average thriller. Throughout the credit sequence we see a lake reflecting images which reflect into what is going on inside the man’s mind. Some images include a close up of an eagle which shows the audience that he is some kind of predator. Blood also drips into the water which represents that he is a murderer.

Immediately after the title sequence we see a close up of a woman’s face, this is to show that she will be significant later on in the film. The camera then zooms out to show a mid-shot of the woman talking to show what she looks like and where she is. The woman is wearing white, this suggests that she pure and innocent and the fact that her buttons are buttoned right up to the neck also suggests this. This could also suggest that she is in danger because she is so pure and innocent, this could be seen as a stereotype of a woman, the damsel in distress.

Parallel editing is then used to show a man in a jail cell. This is used to show a connection between the woman and the man and that they might bump into each other later in the film. There is a close up of the man's back, this emphasises his tattoos, he has a scales and a hammer of justice on his back, this suggests that he believes in the old justice system.

 

There is a non diegetic soundtrack throughout the extract, to build up tension and to give a sort of eary feel to the film. The man is working out, so this suggests that he is a strong dominant figure.

A pan shot and a tilt down shows the man's jail cell and his possessions, which include pictures of extreme dictators like Hitler and Stalin, which suggests that he worships them, and books which suggests that he is an intelligent man.

There is a long take when the man walks down the stairs as he is being released from prison, this is used to get the audience used to the character and also to show the reaction of the other prisoners as he leaves nobody talks, so this suggests that he was a powerful figure in prison.

By Ian Slade

Textual Analysis of a Thriller Opening Chosen by You

Quantum Of Solace

The film Quantum of solace starts with an establishing shot of a mountain with the sea below to set the location. It also starts off with a quiet and smooth non-diegetic sound track to build up tension. This now cuts into the tunnel where we see close-ups of different parts of an Aston Martin. An example of cross cutting is used between the cars within the tunnel and the view of the island. A track shot is used to get closer to the tunnel where the cars are in, as the camera shot gets faster and closer to the zooming in on the tunnel the non-diegetic sound track also gets faster and louder to build up tension, which can be an example of four-shadowing as it builds up tension to show something is going to happen within the tunnel. An extreme close-up is also used on a man who looks like he could be driving, this could be used to show that this character will be important. Also there is a close-up of bullets which shows there’s going to be shooting and violence.

Suddenly a music sting is used to switch from the non-diegetic sound track to the diegetic sound of an Aston Martin presumably being driven by James Bond. Also rapid editing is used to emphasise the speed of the Aston Martin and also to show that there is a car chase happening within the tunnel. The Mise-en-scene is now of the tunnel within the island. A close-up of a rear view mirror from the Aston Martin shows two Alfa Romeo’s behind him which reflects that there is a car chase and that the guys in the two Alfa Romeo’s are baddies because they are chasing Bond. The Aston Martin and two Alfa Romeo’s are an example of props used within the film. Diegetic and accentuated sound is shown by gun shots from inside the tunnel. We see who is shooting when a mid-shot of a person shooting out a window of one of the Alfa Romeo’s is used. This confirms that these are the bad guys as they are shooting at Bond.

A point of view or over the shoulder shot is used of  one of the bad guys, this gives the audience and idea of what the scene looks like from within one of the Alfa Romeo’s, it also makes the audience feel that they are closer to the film and are actually there at that time.  An example of cross cutting is used between the two Alfa Romeo’s or the bad guys and the Aston Martin or actually James Bond. The cross cutting is used to give the audience a perspective of what is happening in the car chase. Next there is a close-up of a truck tire which is bursting, this shows that the truck is going to obviously crash within the tunnel. Also at this certain point there is accentuated sound with tire screeching which also gives the audience an idea that there is going to be a crash. To see the crash actually happening an over the shoulder shot from Bonds view is used to see the crash happening and also to see it happening from his point of view. As the truck is crashing within the tunnel reaction shots are used of James Bond and also the actual truck driver who is crashing. This is another example of cross cutting between James Bond and the truck driver. We see a low angle shot next from the pedal box view from within the Aston Martin. The low angle shot is used here to show the audience that a part of the truck is tearing through the metal on the driver’s door on the Aston Martin. Also car horns are heard in this scene which gives a sense of realism and also an example of ambiance sound.

Luckily Bond escapes the truck crashing and the car chase continues outside the tunnel on the same road. The road outside is now the Mise-en-scene of the scene. To show this there is a mid-shot of the Alfa’s and the Aston Martin driving out of the tunnel. The action still continues outside the tunnel though as an over the shoulder shot is used from bonds view as another truck comes towards bond head on as he is on the wrong side of the road, but instead of bond crashing he avoids the truck. This is shown as a point of view shot is shown from within an Alfa as the Alfa and truck collide head on with each other. To know that this is one of the Alfa’s a reaction shot is shown of Bond. As the chase carries on we can start to hear the non-diegetic sound track come back into the scene in the background to build up more tension. We now see a police man notice the car chase and a close-up of him is used for this. As the chase continues from only one Alfa now and the Aston Martin driven by James Bond we see a reaction shot of Bond being shot at again by the bad guys in the Alfa. Another example of cross cutting is used between the chase and the police noticing this. We know that these are police as the costume resembles this and the typical Italian police car in the background. This is a contrast from the bad guys and Bond which are all wearing suits and looking very formal.

By Joshua Thomas

Year 13 Talk

The year thirteens came into our class and gave us some helpful tips on how to make sure our blog and video are completed on time.  the hints that they gave us are listed below.

Keep on top of work
Photo and video everything
Plan ahead, don't leave it to the last minute
Friendship groups do not work
Share work evenly
Groups of 3 and 4
Do all blogs on the sheet and do extra
Film way before the deadline
Check every ones blog and use some of there ideas
Analyse every ones thrillers
Stand out - don't be boring
Be original
Don't slack
Don't assume blogs are finished, you can always do more
Don't mess with anyone Else's blog, if you do you get 0 marks
People may let you down
Check your camera is charged and look after equipment and make people bring it
Get story boards done
Continuity - same clothes and hairstyles
You get individual marks
Use the correct people for the roles
Good props
Tell people you are filming

All of these tips are very helpful as we need to make sure we follow all of these if we want to pass this exam.

By Scott Cawkwell

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller

By Scott Cawkwell