EVALUATING THE ROUGH CUT

Scratch Rough Cut 1

Health Check 2: Pitch Feedback Response

After receiving feedback from our peers and teachers, we've come to the conclusion that: 

1) Our presentation was of appropriate length and good detail 
2) Our plot was original and suitable for our Genre choice
3) We've considered every aspect of Mise-En-Scene effectively: Sound and Lighting
4) All the sections of the Pitch was covered and fully explored. 

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To Improve: 
1) Add more images to our presentation. 
2) Finalise our Storyboard and make it more clear. 

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OUR RESPONSE: 
> We've made our posts more interactive and appealing, using a wide range of images and gifs - sometimes collages to display multiple images at once!
> We've also made multiple drafts of the Storyboard *See posts for reference

Planning: Original Storyboard (THE PITCH)

We've made a previous post, containing the draft of our Storyboard.
Here is the collage version of it: 

EDITING DAY 2

Editing! pic.twitter.com/JwhhjPWzm9

— Group1Set 1 Media (@ScratchMovie) December 8, 2016

EDITING DAY 1

Editing Day 1 | Working on Slo-mo & presenting our Main Title! pic.twitter.com/ODHQMLFItV

— Group1Set 1 Media (@ScratchMovie) December 5, 2016

Blogging Health Check 2

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 After receiving feedback: 

Thank you for your feedback, Mary! I've looked at my targets and since, have edited my posts to include comparison and inspirations from other movies. 

An example of this change is my post on our official Movie Title, where I've included inspirations from the TV Show: Lost; and the classic: Psycho. 

I've also posted my original Storyboard draft and planning on a collage to show the improvements over time.

BLOGGING HEALTH CHECK 2

1) As a result of my feedback, my prelim is now embedded in the same post as my prelim evaluation.

2) We have arranged the labels and deleted the pitch and presentation labels so that our posts are organised and ready to be submitted to the exam board with just our own labels on.

3) To improve my grade further I will keep posting about production and editing

Blogging Health Check 2

I'm very happy with my grade now as I have made progress since the last health check.

Design | Main Title (FINAL)

 

Using our originally planned font, we realised that the "Destroy X" font was too bubbly and cartoon-like to evoke the eerie atmosphere that we had planned. Therefore, using Photoshop and using inner shadows, I was able to thin out and create a mysterious, yet sharp title opening, which will fade in and out. 

Inspiration From Other Movies: 

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LOST

The choice of the White on Black title comes from the movie "Lost", where they similarly introduce their title sequence. We also liked the slow-paced and sinister Wild Sound that introduces it because it sets the eerie tone alongside the fading of the letters. Therefore, we've used ambience which starts fading from our last shot to make it seem like the antagonist stalks our protagonist from the dream-world and into the real-world.

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PSYCHO: 

We've also gained inspiration of the colour palette, from Psycho: White on Black. And although the title isn't on blank screen, we like the idea of presenting the main themes and symbols in our opening. 

In Psycho, their symbolism comes from the 'scratch' effect, bringing in each title and revealing the importance of the Knife slashing. 

We didn't use moving images, as we want to keep our title more simple, but effective. This is due to the fact that most of our footage contained a rich amount of action, so adding more movement would disengage our audience. 

Filming | Behind the Scenes

Review #2 | Opening Draft 1

Review #1 | Opening Draft 1

Day 3 | Filming

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Day 3:

On day 3 we wen back to film in Rosalie's bedroom to continue filming the second part of our opening sequence.
We decided to meet earlier so we could film more in the daylight before it got dark. It had to film the scene where Eden(the main character) discovers the scar on her arm. 

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What Went Well:

We managed to finish the rest of the footage we needed and were able to review it.
We recreated the scar and had another successful day filming.

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Even Better If:

We did experience train delays and some of us were slightly late to the filming session, but other than that all was well.

Hopefully we have all the footage we need to edit, if not we will arrange another filming day before the deadline

Planning: Overview of Locations

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Location 1: Rosalie's Bedroom 
We figured this place is effective, because of her thematic style of a white bedroom- which is great for inducing the themes of innocence and purity, which is the contrast we'd like to capture in our opening from a very dark nightmare, which will be seen below:

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Location 2: The Forest
Another great thing about the location of Rosalie's house is the close proximity to the forest, giving us more time to record more footage in a shorter space of time. This eerie setting is perfect and fits in well with the first part of our storyboard, where our protagonist is running from something.

We will then get more time to edit our footage accordingly to piece all of our shots in a cinematic way!

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Day 2 | Recording in the woods!

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Day 2:

On day 2, we explored the back of Rosalie's house, which opens up to a massive field connected to forests. This setting was perfect for our opening sequence, as our first part of our storyboard required a wide space and dull tones.
The weather was effective in creating the eerie effect, alongside Fatima's amazing GFX skills to highlight bruises and cuts on our Actress, Alix. 

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What Went Well:

The weather was dull and gloomy, so we've managed to get a very muddy setting; a contrast from our bedroom scene, where everything seems more bright.

We've updated on our Twitter and Instagram accounts, using a wide range of media to present our Days of recording! 

Timing was more efficient, because we already had a vision of what we'd like our opening to look like (including the pressure from the cold), we finished all our shots and after reviewing, we only need to finish recording the bedroom scenes. It was a wrap! 

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Even Better If:

More preparation in extra clothing. Because even though it was cold, it was extremely muddy too! So Alix walked home in socks, sadly. 
Otherwise, the day went really well! 

Filming Day 1!

DAY 1 | Testing, Practising and Recording!

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Day 1:

Today, we've filmed at Rosalie's bedroom, deciding upon filming the second part of our opening as we all met around evening. 

Due to risk assessments with the day getting darker earlier, we made the most of our remaining light source from the room as quickly as possible and have experimented with different effects and shots. 

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What Went Well:

We've managed to record a good amount of footage, which we will use for editing. Also, we've practised FX with makeup and have gained a good vision of what the scratch marks will look like on our next session: Friday, this week! 

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Even Better If:

We will manage our time more usefully next time, as we struggled with the equipment getting jammed into the tri-pod (which wasn't a major issue), but overall, assign each other jobs to get things done quicker before dark! 

MOVIE POSTER ALTERNATIVE

PLANNING: Final StoryBoard(THE PITCH) - ALISON

Click on each to enlarge!

1

Length of Shot (sec):

(1) 5

(2) 7

(3) 2 

 (4) 3

(5) 5

(6) 6

2

Length of Shot (sec):

(1) 4

(2) 6 

(3) 3

(4) 3

(5) 5

(6) 2

3

Length of Shot (sec): 

 (1) 4

 (2) 3

 (3) 4

 (4) 9

 (5) 3

 (6) 5

4

Length of Shot (sec):

(1) 6

(2) 2

(3) 3

 (4) 5

(5) 4

 (6)10

Plot/Production Discussion group 1 (THE PITCH)

Auditions group 1

We have decided to cast Alix as the lead role a she is more comfortable in front on the camera and her audition was more successful

Props: Newspaper Clippings

PLANNING: Character Profiles: Extras

PLANNING: Order of Title Credits (THE PITCH)

Font Styles and Title Credits

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Film Title: 
Destroy X 
LINOSTATE

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Remainder of Title Credits: 
Autos

E.g.

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PLANNING: Character Profile: Main Protagonist (THE PITCH)

PLAN: Final Production Schedule(THE PITCH)

FILMING DAYS

(DAYS EVERYONE IS AVAILABLE)

Tuesday  - 1pm  - 4pm(sunset)

Friday   - 1pm  - 4pm(sunset)Saturday - 11am - 4pm 

We'll finish at sunset so well be able to shoot all our footage in the day time. 

LOCATIONS

Bedroom

Forest

We're filming in Croydon where Rosalie lives so well be able to easily go between shots.

PROPS

A phone

Special Effects Makeup- to create a realistic scar.

CHARACTERS

Main character -Alix

(See character profile)

WEATHER

Weather report for the next week including the days we plan to film

PLANNING: Twitter and Instagram

Another form of advertising our film is social media, which a lot of our target audience (teenagers 16-19) will be using daily. This will promote our Thriller and create more attraction to our film: 

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Visit Our Twitter! 

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Visit Our Instagram!

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PLANNING: SFX (THE PITCH)

SFX

Inspiration for our special effects scratch marks that we will create when we film our scenes in the forest and bedroom when she discovers it.

PLANNING: Movie Poster Design

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As a little extra, I've been thinking of ways to attract our audience to watch our film. One of the advertisements that lure our viewers are movie posters, therefore I've created one, keeping in mind the movie's plot and genre of Thriller:

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PITCH FEEDBACK (THE PITCH)

THE PITCH

Pitch: Storyboard Draft 1

PLAN: Production Schedule(THE PITCH) -FATIMA

Storyboard and Shot Inspiration - ROSALIE

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A low angle shot of the woods will show the setting to be vast, looming and intimidating. It will emphasise the height of the trees and the dark sky which will victimise the main character more, and also show the point of view of the character if they are to look up, mirroring the sense of fear the character would have in the audience.

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An over-the-shoulder shot revealing the character looking in the mirror, will focus on the reflection of the scratch she felt in the dream. This will ensure the audience can see the characters reaction as well as focusing clearly on the scratch itself. 

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Close up and mid Shots of props in characters room, to give indications about the character herself and plot of the film. A good time to integrate credits and transition from the dream into reality.

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A P.O.V high angle shot to show the chaotic mind state of the character, also putting the audience in the characters shoes to see exactly what the character sees, therefore building tension as they cannot see what the character is running from or why. Possibly a cliche or genre trope.

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A high angle (possibly partially obstructed) shot which will follow the character in the woods. This will make the audience feel like they are watching the character through the eyes of someone else, making them uneasy as they question who or what is in the woods with the main character. Increases the vulnerability of the character.

PLANNING: Risk Assessment(THE PITCH) - FATIMA

         R I S K  A S S E S S M E N T        

PLAN: Title Credits (THE PITCH) - ALISON

Font style Ideas:

 Researching the conventions of Thriller, Se7en uses a very dramatised style for each credits. As we're planning to remain subtle with the rest of our credits, we'd like to have a bold and distorted main title for "Scratch", therefore the styles chosen from dafont.com are effective in bringing out the emphasis of scratch, generating an eerie tone. 

Type Face:

*See above pictures* 

Integrated:

Credits over a blank screen - "SCRATCH" (main title) 
Here we'd want to use the traditional Thriller convention of a black background with white text to show the divide between good and evil. Therefore for our main title, we'd like to set a sinister tone and also establish our genre by starting off with that style. 

Stylised over moving images - Rest of credits
We want to emphasise the theme of distortion and illusion, so we will stylise the display of our credits in a scratch format to put that across and foreshadow to our audience what the climax of our opening will be. 

Rough Templates:

Inspirations:

Noticing that most Thrillers use a very basic, but stylised fonts, we're inspired to not over-edit our credits in order to lay the focus on the film's actions (as it will be displayed over moving images), but also make the audience unaware of the danger to come.


The editing in the transitions of the credits work with the title of the film "ZODIAC", which is something we'd like to incorporate - e.g. a scratching transition of our credits. 

PLANNING: Sound Design (THE PITCH) - ALISON

Non-CopyRighted Music (Final Ideas) 

PLANNING: Use of Sound in Previous Students' Title Sequences

PLANNING: Indent

I originally chose: Hot Logo 2 

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DESIGN

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After experiencing difficulties with AfterEffects, I've decided to create my own Indent on Photoshop- using animation and Lens Flare effects to present my work in an attractive way to introduce my Film Opening to my audience. 

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SOUND

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I've used Ambience sound from YouTube, which is slow and quite tranquil to not spoil the movie, but at the same time, set a sinister tone to my audience- signifying the genre. 

I've included "A Viacom Company" which is popularly associated with Paramount, so my audience will automatically assume a good film. 

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FONT

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I've stuck to a black and white font contrast, as many Thrillers use this minimalist to associate with the good and evil of the protagonist and antagonist. 

I've used "Hacked" font for my main company (independent) to create an uneasy atmosphere and evoke themes of lack of control. 

Micro/Macro Conventions(THE PITCH) - Fatima

MIRCO/MACRO ANALYSIS

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THRILLER CONVENTIONS

PLANNING: The Film (THE PITCH) - ALISON/ROSALIE/FATIMA

WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE FILM?
"Missing" - mentioned in voice-over and blank screen title sequence 

WHAT IS THE TREATMENT? 
Plot:
Starts off where a girl gets numerous notifications from a Group Chat, notifying about their trip to collect abandoned objects.
We see the group of girls exploring Epping forest and looking for artefacts, when suddenly, blackness. We hear a lot of screaming and violence.
Protagonist suddenly snaps back into reality, in her bedroom from the opening scene, where she's in the middle of replying "I'm ready to go out" to the woods. 

A sense of dread overwhelms her, so she gets up to change.
When removing the hoodie/gown, a large scratch/wound is revealed (which wasn't there before).
Screens blacks out to reveal main title. 


WHAT TYPE OF TITLE SEQUENCE IS IT?
 credits appear on moving image(the scene)
Title appears on a blank screen to make it more dramatic

WHAT GENRE IS IT?(SUB-GENRE)
Thriller -Psychological thriller.
 Subgenre
Horror


REPRESENTATION

Characters

• The victim and friends, who are running through the forest.

Social groups

• Teenagers

Stereotypes

• a group of teenagers 

RESEARCH: Institution Distrubution

PLANNING: Favourite and Least Favourite student work

Sound Analysis - Favourite Student Sound

17. Selin, Morgan, Ayse, Canberk from 283goswellg on Vimeo.

The sound used in Mind Play is extremely effective in suggesting things to the audience whilst leaving the plot line open. It uses a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, which works well as it throws the audience into the world of the film whilst also setting a general tone and atmosphere. For example, the non-diegetic breathing adds to the realism in the title sequence, and puts the audience in a state of suspend disbelief as they feel a part of the film. The diegetic music used sets an eerie and unsettling tone due to the way in which it echoes and periodically stops and starts. Not only does this create tension through moments of tense silence, followed by intense sound, but it foreshadows the way in which the film will continue to shock and surprise the audience. The layering of sound is also particularly effective, the non-diegetic cracking of the rope and sound of the scissors highlights these props as imperative to the storyline and therefore imprints these particular items in the audience's mind. The police radio and narration also adds a chaotic element to the scene, and further emphasises the sinister nature of the events in the film as the police radio has clear negative connotations. The idea the sequence ends with the voice-over asking 'does the dream control you?' with no ambient sound or other music emphasises the impact of that question and directly addresses the audience, bringing them into the world of the film even more and leaves them on edge and curious. 

Sound Analysis - Least Favourite Student Sound

34. Daniel, Amy, Ana, Nazmin from 283goswellg on Vimeo.

This title sequence uses sound motifs to introduce character types, for example 'Fancy' introduces a protagonist who is therefore implied to be confident, outspoken and popular. Soft piano music introduces another, which has the connotative effect of reflecting their character as shy, soft-spoken and gentle. This is effective in the way it builds up characters without any dialogue, however the fluency and fluidity of the sound is less effective. The jump between songs means some gaps in sound and the songs do not flow easily into each other. This could, however, show contrast between the characters, and so makes sense in terms of the story line but means the title sequence has less fluidity. Some non-diegetic sound could also be used to add to the school atmosphere, for example a school bell finishing the piece or the chatter of students as ambient sound.

PLANNING: Which Studio Will Distribute Your Film?

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Indents:

At the beginning of a film, different institutions are presented in forms of animated sequences of their logo, including a visual image to link and present the genre of the remainder of the film- advertising their company, whilst also setting a mood with music/silence.

Some Examples of Thriller Movies and Studios work include... 

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Paramount Pictures:

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In these Thriller/Horrors, Paramount Pictures introduces itself with a more darker indent and tone, as it usually presents in a daylight setting; now in darker skies, setting a sinister tone and especially with the effective use of silence, making the audience feel "on-edge".  

   In "Case 39" and "Paranormal Activity" ...

Silence is something that I find creative in making the audience hold their breaths and anticipate for the shock at the start of the movie.
It generates suspense, as we lose the satisfaction and company of sound and so our hearing becomes more amplified, as we rely mainly on imagery to help us understand the story, before the climax.

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Warner Bros. & New Line Cinema Studios: 

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These two institutions are extremely effective in absorbing the attention of the audience, because it is well known and well respected- so we expect to see a good film. The creation of the Indents set a tone for "The Conjuring" - indented with horror/thriller sub-genres.

Use of dark, slow and suspenseful synths increases tension and anticipation, with the moving image background of dark storms, evoking suspense. The use of moving images and sound will be something our group will consider.

                                                         

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Icon Film Distribution:

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The opening to a Thriller is an effective with this Studio as it introduces itself with red hues and lightning non-diegetic sound; setting an uneasy tone for the audience. An aspect of this mise-en-scene is something to consider, as the jiggy and strike effects of the text and static non-diegetic sound effects adds to the suspenseful introduction to the film.

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WHAT BRAND IMAGE WILL WE PORTRAY THROUGH OUR IDENTS?

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We need to grab the attention of our audience from the start, meaning: 

• Setting a dark and sinister tone to create suspense and keep our audience on edge is key.

• Doing this, the attention of our audience is key and so when we make our thrilling Distributions, we will focus on details with sound/silence/colours.

• Less is more, and so we will try and make our audience guess and anticipate the rest of the movie, whilst also keeping them intrigued.