Evaluation: First Draft

Looking over what was created for the draft one of the opening sequence for the thriller, it allows me to see a rough outline of what I am trying to create and helps show the stages of improvements. In the first draft I can automatically tell that a lot of work is needed to advance the way it is looking, in the way that the video clips have been put together. 

What Went Well 

When looking at draft one, I can see that one thing that went well was the idea that when I was filming it was very dark, so a good thing was being able to get something from the video clips that I had filmed in that time. However I will still need to re-film as the lighting needs changing, to enable an improvement in the video as it will allow the video to work better. 

Another thing that went well in the first draft was the idea of using ambient sound. This is because there were a few clips where you could not hear anyone in the background over the ambient sound allowing the opening sequence to feel a lot more realistic when it comes to the sound that is being included. Further to this idea the ambient sound makes a big difference to the video due to  adding the car engine and dog barking to the videos background without hiding anything that has been happening. 

Improvements: 

By looking at this draft I can see automatically that a lot needs to be changed to make it work and look a lot better in the way that it has been edited. This is trying to say that the way it has been put together is very basic with editing techniques that are so similar for the flashbacks and none of the clips of the women in bed have any editing techniques used to make them flow better in the extract. The main reason for mentioning this is because I was trying to make sure that I had something to hand in for this deadline. Furthering on this idea it means that I already know that I am going to be needing to change the clips by refilming some of them and adding more and changing the editing of a few parts. 

Going on with the idea of what was said in the improvement before, one thing that needs changing is the video clips, as there is not a wide range of shot sizes being used. This means the idea is that I have included a lot of shots which are similar in the way that they have been filmed. An example of this in the opening sequence is when the women is in the bed crying. The shot types for this are either long shots or medium shots, which means that there is not a wide range of these included, lowering down the idea of being able to use the camera. The shots that have not been included very much are close ups, which work better in a thriller as it allows the audience to see specific images and will show the importance of the shot. Furthering on from this, close up shots are needed as well when it comes to the flashbacks of Libby as these clips are a lot more important to the extract. 



 Another improvement that needs to be added is the sound. The reason for mentioning sound is because of the idea of not including dialogue. By not including dialogue is reduces the idea of interest that maybe seen by the audience, due to the idea that the dialogue will interest the audience with the opening sequence and may make them want to carry on watching the opening sequence. 

The next thing that needs improving is the way that the flashbacks are being presented. This is because the video does not link together very well and does not show the change of time and how the younger actress is meant to be the older women in the past. This is an improvement that needs to be included as it will change the whole way that the opening sequence is being portrayed throughout and will help the audience to understand what is actually happening.   

When it comes to the first draft I could also do with changing the very beginning of the opening sequence so that the video does not go straight into the women crying in the bedroom. The change of this will allow the start to be a lot less in the face of the audience and will not be as over powering or confusing due to the questions being raised such as; 'Why is she crying?',  'Who is she?', 'How does this relate to the other clips?'. This means that this is changing what people think of the opening sequence and how it can be changed to make it easier for the audience to understand.  

Overall:
By adding the improvements from above to the first draft this will allow the opening sequence to look a lot better and will flow a lot more. These improvements will include a dramatic advance in the way the shots have been put together.

Draft One

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1tmyW9Qv58

Construction: Sound

In the production of the opening sequence, the first draft seemed to cause a few problems for myself with the sound, due to the idea that when the video clip was inserted into the extract, and the sound bar was not taken with it. This meant that the ambient sound was then not added to the background of the video clips, that then could change the whole view to the audience as it does not seem to be as realistic to what is happening. The way of fixing this was to re-add in the video clips, once the settings had been changed allowing the sound to be added back. This caused problems again, due to the clips already being cropped to the correct parts and when re-adding them it meant that this process needed to be taken again, which took a lot of time to be done. However once this had been done, it then made the whole extract a lot less boring with the thought that they could hear what was happening on the screen.

Construction: Production Company

A production company is the company that put together the video that is being created. One process that needed to be done was the idea of what the production company was going to be. The two images above are presenting the two ideas I have created. The way I did these was by using Photoshop to edit the image and add a layer of text above to make it look nice. Advancing on this after doing a lot of research and planning into production company the one that I am going to be including at the beginning of the opening sequence is the little wood production's. this is for two reasons; first when I asked people which one they preferred this was the one that was most in favour,  second the idea that it looks a lot more professional and like the other production company logos that have already been created. 

Editing: Putting the shots together

In the time that was used today, I managed to get the time to start putting together the first draft for the opening sequence. This allowed the whole planning and research to finally come together at this point. By making the first draft of the opening, it could show which parts do not work well or may need refilming as they have either not the correct camera angle or the video may be out of focus or something.

The first image is of starting off the editing process where I decided to see what videos I had of the main character to put in to the opening. This was to allow the extract to make sense and feel as it could be put together and make sense as a whole video. Furthering on this idea I can automatically tell that these shots will need refilming due to the idea of them making the character look very orange as well as slightly out of focus in some parts.  

The flashbacks in the opening were a lot more detailed due to needing to change the colour of them. This detail was done by adding a tint to these specific clips of the kidnapping. This was not a hard thing to do, however it was knowing where to look to be able to add or change something. The shots that were being used before adding all of the different transitions and colour correction were very dark and you could not really tell what was happening. This means that for the next draft of the video I will be changing the video clips to something where you can see what is happening a lot more vividly.

The image above is showing an image of the navigation bar which is what is being used to change the way the video clips will go from one colour to another. By adding a colour change it indicates the idea of the flashbacks and how it is also a different time in this persons life. The way it was changed was through the colouring and adding a tint to the specific video clips, as well as a transition so that it could add a different editing technique. The transition of which was included was a dissolve (dip to white) which in my opinion makes the video feel and look more like the clips are at different parts of the characters life.

Filming: Take 1

Today is another filming day and in this time I spent it getting a variation of shots for myself to put together. The shots that I gathered were the outside shots for the flashbacks. This included; the shot of the steering wheel and gear shift, the back of the male protagonist character, the car coming up behind the character who is in danger, the car along side the young teen female character, the ending part that is her in the boot of the car. 

One problem that occurred when trying to get these shots was the lighting, it was past mid day in the winter which meant that the sun was going down. This meant we only had until around 3pm which made it very hard for me to get the perfect shots. I already know that when it comes to the final edit I am going to need to re-film a couple of these shots due to the low lighting of winter (full film crews also have lighting issues but a bigger budget to have external lighting to help negate this problem). 

Another few shots I got were of the older woman in the bed. These shots were very easy to get due to it being in my house for the location which meant that I did not have to worry as much about it getting dark as the lighting can be adapted with the overhead light and the lamps that are in the room. The only problem with this situation meant that using added lights it made the person in shot look very orange toned in the skin, which made them also look very fake. 

By going through what shots I got I can see that a major problem for the first draft is the lighting and that when it comes to the final edit these situations need to be changed. Better lighting would be better for people to see and will allow people to enjoy more the content of the video than being sat there thinking about how bad the lighting is throughout the extract. 

Filming: Test Shots

During the past couple of days after finishing the planning for the opening of the thriller I started to do a few test shots. This was to see what people would look like on the camera and to allow myself to know if they would work well in the clips. By doing this it means that I am able to see if I should actually use them in the extract or not as they may not fit in with the way that the opening is trying to be presented.


Problems:
One problem that occurred when it came to the test shots was one of the actors could not make it to the first filming. This made me think that maybe she would not be reliable as they may do the same when having to re-shoot parts. By having this happen at the beginning of the filming process meant that I am then able to find someone else that is a lot more willing to be in the opening and will allow time to be arranged to be in it. 

Another thing that needed sorting out when it came to the test shots was the lighting as it either made the characters look very white or orange. Overall I think this would not be classed as a proper problem, however it is something that needs changing when it comes to the final shots which are going to be included in the opening sequence. This does not look very nice in the opening so I feel it is something that could do with a change. This could be done by simply adding a simple light to change the orange to something of which would look nice on the opening sequence. 

How have the test shots helped? 
These test shots are needed in the filming stage to allow me to know the details of what needs to be done next and if there will be any change when it comes to the location and the characters being used. When it comes to the location the one of which is being used in the test shots is being kept the same in the other clips as it means that these do not need re-shooting for location reasons. However it will need re-shooting for the reason of the lighting. This is what needs to be changed as it does not allow the characters to look there best in the clips. The use of the test shots can help with the simple things like this allowing selected parts of scenes to be re-shot without too much time wasted on full scene re-shoots. 

Test shots also helped me understand which angles are going to be used and which clips will includes these different types of shots. By doing this it is trying to help make it easier to know what to do for the other shots and if they need re-shooting. Adding on to this it is showing which shot looks the best for final shooting of the opening sequence.