Evaluation of Rough Cut

Evaluation of first rough cut

Smart targets

I have set myself some smart targets on pro-monitor as a reminder of what I need to do to improve my blog in order to attain the highest mark possible. Setting targets with a deadline will help me manage my free time better to make sure I actually meet the deadlines and allow time to post extra blog posts to enhance the quality of my blog.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Evidence Audit

Rough Cut of the Title Sequence

Psychological Editing- Andrei

I was browsing through youtube videos, hoping to find an interesting and effective way to edit our title sequence together and I managed to find this clip.

Post production is where all the pieces of our title sequence come together and understanding the psychology behind editing will help us create a title sequence with purpose.

The video explains the reason why a target audience prefer and enjoy some movies more than others. This is due simply because the audience tends to analyse the film they are watching subconsciously, therefore they have a preset impression of a movie right after watching the title sequence, hence why our title sequence needs to be flawless.

We can, firstly begin by selecting all the footage that we feel is most powerful, can help us tell a story and could be effectively put together to maintain the viewer's attention and suspend their disbelief. One way we can make this happen is through our editing,by using the 'Kuleshov Effect', whereby we take a few clips that do not necessarily have a connection to each other and organize them in such way that we could create something that wasn't initially there. This could impact the quality of our title sequence greatly as using a such simplistic, yet so effective technique will expand the audience's knowledge of the film and help them form a more detailed perception of it, making them more engaged in the title sequence.

Here are a few things we could do in the post production work to enhance our title sequence:

• Knowing when to cut- every time we cut, there must be a reason for it. Cutting must be done to show emotions, as well as conveying the story of the film. 

• Holding shots- we can hold shots either on subjects or objects in our title sequence to determine their significance and connoting to the audience a feeling of importance in the film, as well as, giving the audience time to connect with the characters and what they are feeling.
• Shot ordering- The general rule for movies is beginning with a master shot then follow up with a shot of a subject (character). However, when we sometimes break this rule, we can create a sense of mystery as the audience are slightly confused as they were not expecting it.
• Cutting on action- cutting on action can make the title sequence seem more transparent and often leaves the audience craving more, therefore it will help us successfully attain our goal for the title sequence; leaving the audience 'on the edge of their seats'. 
• Focusing on the viewer's eye trace- this involves making sure that we don't change the perspective focus of the viewer's eyes too drastically so we can create a more flawless transition. This helps us, as editors, control: where the viewer is looking, what they are seeing, their feelings and the story that is being told to them.

Overall, using all these techniques and procedures, we hope to achieve a title sequence that is cohesive, includes seamless cutting and conveys a powerful potential story that will be told in the film through the title sequence. 

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The Psychology of Framing-Andrei

Out of curiosity, I decided that I wanted a deeper, more detailed knowledge behind the framing of shots. Therefore, I did my own research on how to make the framing of our shots for fitting and interesting in order to attract and engage a wider range of target audiences.

The most popular shot types are:

• Wide Shot
• Medium Shot
• Over-the-shoulder Shot
• Close up Shot
• Macro Shot

Throughout our title sequence we want to be using as many variations of shots as possible, enabling us to maintain variety and prevent our viewers from becoming slightly bored of seeing the same exact shot types.

Another thing we could do to further develop our title sequence more professionally, is using 'The rule of thirds'. This involves:

1. Dividing the frame into nine equal blocks
2. Placing the subject(character) in the middle of the four intersecting lines.
3. This causes the viewer to follow the subject into the frame 
4. Then, unconsciously focusing on the edge of the frame
5. And returning their eye trace towards the subject once again
6.  This creates a more dynamic image

The above only takes place if the subject is on one side of the screen. However, if the subject is in the center of the frame, the viewer's eye remain static as  there is an equal distance between the borders of the frame and the subject, creating a more still image which could be effective if we want to raise tension or show the 'power' of a character.

We could also use 'Frame Balancing'. This technique juxtaposes images within a frame so that the objects are of equal visual weight. When different parts of attention command your attention more than others, the right balance is achieved. This could be extremely useful in our title sequence as we can use 'frame balancing' to direct the viewers attention on a certain character or object and manipulate their emotions much more easily.

This video has also made me understand that the distance between the viewer and the subject correlates to the difference between the camera and the subject. Accordingly, framing could help us establish relationships between the target audience and the characters right from the title sequence. If the camera is more distant from a character, it means that the character will also seem more distant and mysterious. On the other hand, if the camera is closer to the subject while filming, it will helps us develop a really impactful, strong emotional connection between the character and the viewer. Moreover, we can also decide to change the frame of certain scenes to denote how the character is feeling and further develop a character to viewer relationship, while also helping our target audience figure out the genre of the movie. 

Understanding framing on a deeper level and the connection it can create for the viewer,we can use it to create the desired effects and enhance our title sequence overall.

Update on storyboard-

Due to the change of locations and changes to our shots , here are some images of the our final storyboard.

Working on our production (4/12/2015)-Andrei

Evidence of Filming-Ceanne

Here are quick shots of us filming  and the props used in our title sequence in Shoreditch.

PROPS UPDATE--Alex Dragulele

COSTUME UPDATE--Alex Drauglele

LOCATION UPDATE-- Alex Dagulele

A month ago, 13th of November, me and my group visited the filming set, we decided to use this as we could work with the atmospheric light, which on camera looked very atmospheric. It was located on on Shoreditch High street, behind the pub The Old blue Last Pub  and were close enough to the high street so that there would be a background sound of busy cars to create a city sounds, which linked in with the genre of the film , Thriller.

However, when we arrived on the set on the 1st of December, we were surprised to see that the whole site in Shoreditch was closed up because of road work. therefore we had to improvise and go find a new location. With luck we found a new, well lit location, located a short walk from the original location. the new location contain a little part with a wide pavement. The little park was attached to the wall of a church.

the new location, also was more discrete and further away from the road, which meant not as many people would disrupt our  filming session, but because it was a public space, members of the public still came through.
The wall of the church was a huge advantage to us as we were able to hang up the symbol of the murders. we did this to contextualise the scene and also add a sense of mystery.

The trees in the new location were very low down, this helped the scene be more discrete and also it added a nice contrasting tone, between the green of the leaves and the blood.

The new location did add more atmosphere to our film and it made it more discrete.

OUR FINAL IDENT FOR DISTRIBUTION COMPANY- Devon Smith

The Psychology behind Cinematography/Camera Movement- Andrei

Camera Movement is a great technique to add another layer or dimension to our filming and form different interpretations for our target audience to infer and getting them more involved and intrigued in to the film, hence why I did another independent research of how to perfect this technique and found as much detail about it as possible. The main types of camera movements:

• Pan- this involves moving the camera horizontally. It is often used to follow a subject or to show the difference between two objects. It can also be used to give the viewer a panoramic view of the setting.

• Tilt-Often used to follow a subject or to show the top and bottom of a stationary object, panning is extremely effective to connote possession of power or vulnerability of characters. Tilting up makes a character look much larger and thicker(more powerful), where as tilting down makes the character look smaller and thinner(less powerful). 

• Pedestal- Physically moving the camera diagonally, usually on a tripod. This is used to show the size of a character or object and potentially connote either danger or innocence. 

• Dolly-The camera is set on tracks or wheels and moved towards or back from a subject.This is done to follow an object smoothly to get a unique perspective. In some movies directors combine the dolly and a zoom shot for a real sense of doom. To do this, the camera lens zooms into the subject at the same time as the camera physically dollies out, and the person in the shot remains the same size, but the background appears to move. It's difficult to master smoothly, but done right, the shot conveys a real sense of tension and feeling of vertigo.

• Crane-This works and looks similar to a construction crane. It is used for high sweeping shots or to follow the action of your subject. It gives a bird's eye view and looks as if the camera is swooping down from above.This is often used for street scenes so they can shoot from above the crowd and the traffic, and then move down to eye level.

• Handheld- Holding the camera without any resting equipment e.g. tripod. If mastered correctly this could be very effective as it offers great precision of angles because the camera is handheld, therefore it can be positioned in any way. Handheld is best when you are shooting someone or something that is moving. However, It looks very bad when shooting landscapes, buildings, or stationary objects.

• Push in / Pull back – here the camera is pushed towards the action or pulled back (whether manually or digitally) often to subtly suggest an increasing affinity or dislike for a character as a clip or scene progresses

• Zoom in or Zoom out – here the camera lens zooms in or out to change our spatial and emotional relationship to the scene and the characters

In addition, each camera movement and the speed of the movement has it's own unique and specific emotion or feeling that the audience or viewer picks up subconsciously. Therefore, using cinematography we can connect certain characters and objects with the audience by evoking specific feeling without any dialogue which, in my opinion,creates a magnificent title sequence that does it's job of introducing the movie to the audience without giving away too much detail or information.
Lastly, we can use camera movement while filming to our advantage to create specific emotions and forming a hierarchy of the importance of every occurrence of every scene and making our title sequence more compelling as a whole.

According to the clips, often the terms 'Zoom in' and 'Push in' are confused with each other. A 'zoom' is a two dimensional magnification that increases the size of the center of the camera's image. Meanwhile, a 'push in' is physically pushing the camera towards the subject, creating a much more three dimensional space for the viewer. A 'push in' gives the viewer a more detailed and familiarized perspective of the character and the surroundings where as a 'zoom in' is more artificial and offers a more of an 'outsider's' perspective.