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forming groups and working collectively on the project
• To begin the task we were asked to research the Thriller genre and come up with some very basic ideas of the kind of film our opening title sequence would be and what sort of plot it might have. -
forming groups and working collectively on the project
• After brainstorming we decided to delegate the different roles to each group member. This was decided by talking through the different skills we all had. We decided that Rebecca would be the actor for our film as she was the most confident in front of the camera. Joe was given the role of the cameraman as he seemed to know the most about the technical aspects of the project. And it was decided that I would be the director as the idea we all liked and agreed on developing was initially mine. -
forming groups and working collectively on the project
• I think working in this group has been really rewarding. As we are a smaller group than the others in our class, we really had to work together and communicate with one another form the very beginning. Because we all have different strengths we used these to work to our advantage and we were able to get a lot of jobs completed quickly. -
Forming groups and working collectively on the project
• Once we'd done this we were put into our groups and began to brainstorm all of our ideas so that we could pick out any shared ideas or patterns that started to form. After doing this we had formed a very rough idea of what our film would be about. -
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opening title sequence project
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preliminary exercise: a filming and editing continuity exercise
• The preliminary exercise was an introduction to the concept and the practical application of continuity filming and editing. The prelim enabled us to practice our filming, acting and directing skills and to help us get used to our delegated roles. We experimented with filming techniques such as the 180⁰ rule, match on action and shot reverse shots. -
forming groups and working collectively on the project
• Working in a group is always going to be slightly challenging as everyone will have different ideas and will be used to working in slightly different ways. But I think our group was really good at accommodating our individual ways of working and our project really benefited from this. -
preliminary exercise: a filming and editing continuity exercise
• Because for all of us this was our first time filming, we had to learn each concept from scratch. This meant using the trial and error approach until we got each shot perfectly. The only way we were able to actually understand how to shoot was to physically do it for ourselves and to see the results being edited together. -
preliminary exercise: a filming and editing continuity exercise
• This exercise was actually more of a challenge that filming our opening title sequence as we were in slightly different groups and didn’t work well together at all. There was one very strong minded character who left the rest of us feeling a little overpowered. We also had very different ideas and approaches to the prelim exercise which made it harder to work together. The good thing about the prelim was that we got the chance to see how we’d need to approach the filming when doing our ... -
preliminary exercise: a filming and editing continuity exercise
...final sequence; it also enabled us to establish some sort of understanding of the cameras technology. -
preliminary exercise: a filming and editing continuity exercise
• As well as filming techniques we also had to learn skills such as; group work, delegation of tasks and roles, planning and storyboarding. Because our group had very different ideas it was difficult for us to come to any sort of solid agreement concerning the planning of our prelim. Because of the clash of personalities in our prelim group, I think it made getting on with our final group a lot easier and made working together a lot more rewarding -
preliminary exercise: a filming and editing continuity exercise
• By doing the prelim exercise we learnt a lot about which techniques worked and which, without the right equipment, didn’t work so well. We also learnt it was crucial to have a solid understanding of the storyboard before you start filming as different members of the group may imagine the slots slightly differently to others which can cause confusion and conflict. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
• The planning stage of our work was not only useful, but essential for our group to get a solid image in our minds of what we want our film to be like and aspire to that image. The planning was also key for ensuring everyone in the group was on the same page and didn’t have a completely different idea of how our sequence would turn out. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
• After doing our prelim and having researched a lot of different thriller films, I started to notice myself picking out certain editing and camera techniques. This made planning and researching for our final piece a lot easier as I knew what to look out for. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
1A-I think it has worked perfectly; allowing us creative space for our titles and proving to be a very interesting and unusual shot which is typical of the thriller genre as the first it’s not completely obvious as to what it is. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
• When we reviewed our rushes we thought some of our shots were slightly underexposed but we were told it was a very subtle mistake and would be fine left as they were. For some shots I personally thought we could have done with some more footage so that we could choose which shot we used for that particular scene. But when it came to the editing it didn’t seem to affect our final piece. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
• We didn’t have to re-shoot any of our film. There was a debate over wither or not to reshoot some of the slightly under exposed shots but it was concluded that the error was too small to set up the whole shot again. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
2A- We used match on action in our sequence to emphasise certain movements of the characters. This technique is used as the girl stands up from taking the suite case from under the bed and when she rings the doorbell, we were careful not to use this too much as it can sometimes make the film look more like a music video rather than a thriller opening title sequence -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
2B- . Because there is so sort of dialog between two characters, we didn’t use the 180 degree rule. We used a shot reverse shot to show the male character see the doll left on his door step, and his reaction to it. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
• I thought our end product was really successful. We managed to get all the shots we needed and all quickly enough that we didn’t lose too much natural daylight. The transition from shot to shot was very smooth and we faced no major difficulties. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
1-On the day of the filming, we all felt quite confidant in what we were doing and in the skills we’d acquired. Some of the shots had to be slightly altered from what we had planned on the story board as floor space in the room was limited and our tripod’s legs stretched out more than we were anticipating. But even so we were able to experiment with different camera angles and positions. For me my favourite shot is the very first one you see, the girl taking the suitcase out from under the bed. -
planning and filming your thriller opening title sequence
• If we were to do this project again the only thing I would change about the filming would be that aim to do it on a day that wasn’t so cold. Even though the weather complemented the atmosphere of our title sequence, the wind was so bitterly cold it was hard for the crew, especially the actor who had only a thin jumper on, to stay outside for too long. -
Editing
1- When editing our preliminary exercise, it was our first time using Adobe Premiere so we had no idea what to do and mostly relied on our teachers understanding of the program to help up really simply edit together our shots. When we edited our final sequence, we had a much further understanding of the programs software even though we were still getting to grips with some of the basic features of it. -
Editing
1B-Throughout the editing period the whole group, but especially Joe’s (our editor) understanding of the program because greater and greater. By the end of the project we were incorporating a lot more advanced kinds of editing into our title sequence; such as titles, transitions from one shot to another, layering and more. -
Editing
• Because our sequence is not editing purely with continuity in mind. We used it a lot for the bedroom scenes where we show the character moving around the room, but for some shot transitions to different locations for example, there would be a very obvious cut and change in scene. The continuity shots were easier to do once we were comfortable with the technique as the editor just had to find shots that logically fitted together. -
Editing
2A- When editing, we explored different effects and transitions to make our sequence more creative and intriguing. We used the cross fade transition a lot as it creates a nice flow from one shot to the next. It also reflects the unstable mind set of the female character. We layered the same shot, started at slightly different times, on top of its self and sped up the 4 minute shot to create a time laps for about 10 seconds. -
Editing
2B- We use a linear wipe on the title of one shot, this meant it faded out of the shot from the left; we matched this action with the walking pace of the female character. We also de-saturated the colour of all the shots to reflect the thriller genre and the unsettling feel of our sequence. -
Editing
• Over all I think my film making skills and understanding has improved drastically. After doing this project I now find myself noticing editing and camera techniques in all types of film and TV. I’ve learnt so much about what it takes to make a film and how much work goes into even the shortest of sequences. I really think I’ve learnt and understood more in this project than I have in any previous media topic I have studied.
