Friday 18 March 2011

Final Feedback from Class

Camera Work Feedback-
Liked close up shots which concealed identity of killer.
Medium shots that showed the whole of his body without his face worked well
Shots were quick and helped create suspense well

Sound Feedback-
Music was effective but a bit monotonous and samey throughout the sequence.
Fast paced upbeat music created a dark, unsettling mood which made it thrilling and full of suspense.
Crackling noises didn't seem very effective
Sound created a tense atmosphere which went well with the genre of thriller and the visuals on screen

Mise-en-scene Feedback-
Dark room symbolized dark intentions of killer
Location created a good effect
Knife and papers made it a crime thriller 
Placement of significant objects successfully achieved through good lighting and shadows.


Editing Feedback-
People felt the black and white made it seem like a flashback and worked effectively.
Cross dissolves were effective
Jump cut of photographs were creative and worked

Constructive Critism-
Some dialogue in the production
Music needs to be changed so it is not so monotonous and boring
Some feedback said that the sound didn't fit to all of the pictures on screen.

Most effective element of production- 
Dark room created suspense
Lighting that created shadows
Mise-en-scene including costume and props
Props including photographs on the wall

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Thriller Distribution

Examples of Distributors and their Thriller Films: 
Paramount Pictures - Shutter Island, Lara Croft, Mission Impossible
Universal - Jurassic Park, Jaws, Bourne Trilogy, Green Zone
New Line - Final Destination, Friday 13th, Jason X, Blade Trilogy
Miramax - Fight Club, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
Warner Brothers - Terminator, Matrix, Prestige, Inception, Batman - Dark Knight

warner-bros-logo-thumbAfter our research into Thriller Distributors we found these were the main five distributors of this genre. We could work with all these distributors however we feel that Universal and Warner Bros would be more appropriate considering they have more films like the one we have produced. For example Batman, Inception and Bourne are very popular films with the audience we are trying to target. The two distributors are the biggest and most well known throughout the industry and the audience will trust these to bring them the best film experience. Becuase we want to aim our product at the cinema industry when completed we feel these would be the most appropriate to use. Both Warner and Universal have big links with the largest cinema chains across the world and when we looked at Cineworld and Vue, the biggest cinemas in England, the majority of the films were distributed by one of the two.
universal-studios-logo-wallpaperIn conclusion we think that Universal will be the best distributor for our product. It is the most well known throughout the world, with distributors running through loads of countries. It thrives in America and Britain, which would suit our film well. As well as distributing millions of films worldwide it also has other benefits such as Universal Studios in Florida, this could add extra promotion and advertising for our film and the JERH company we have created.

Final Product

Friday 11 March 2011

Feedback of Final Sequence

After finishing our improvements from Amar we got another group to view our production and give positive and negative feedback about it.


- They felt that the music was very effective, working with the sub - genre. They felt it helped gain suspense and showed that the film was a dark, psychological thriller.
- They liked the range of camera shots we used which included point of view shots, establishing shots and close ups. They felt that it helped show what was clearly going on, understanding the narrative clearly.
- They commented that the transitions between shots we good with the cut's working well with the thriller genre.
- They liked the extreme close ups of the knife and photos. They felt the emphasis put on it helped them understand the narrative and possibly hinted at what will happen during the rest of the film.
- They enjoyed the opening sequence and believed it used the right conventions of a Thriller opening sequence. The fact clues were shown made it a very effective start of a psychological thriller.
- They liked the ending as it left them on edge and in suspense, wondering what was going to happen after this sequence. 

Thursday 10 March 2011

Feedback from Amar

Since our rough cut we have been editing in every lesson. With our sequence nearly ready we decided to get feedback from Amar as he is experienced and knows what works well and what doesn't in opening sequences.
At first he believed that the narrative was about a murder investigator rather than a murderer. This is because of the use of pictures and newspaper articles with the time and dates on the wall. It seemed as if they were investigating suspects rather than following potential victims. The spying part of the sequence created a suspicion that the man was not "normal" and possibly not a investigator. As soon as the knife was seen he instantly understood that the character was a murderer choosing his victims.
After trying to explain the narrative he thought was being portrayed in the sequence we told him the actual narrative. He felt that it was hard to grasp the deep narrative we had produced and we could have tried to show the boys relationship with his dad in some shots. He suggested having a close up picture of his dad as well as having a close up with his face so the audience could relate with the character more. He thought that the newspaper article on the wall could have been shown more close up to make sure the audience can understand the narrative we were trying to portray.
For the spy sequence he felt that black and white was not enough to convince him that it was a flashback and suggested that it would be a good idea to add another effect such as vignette. This blurs out the edges of the clip making it more realistic as a flashback.
He felt the music went well with the pictures on screen and related to the sub genre well. He also felt that the editing was very strong however he thought one weakness in our sequence was the way we showed the titles. He felt that they could have been a different colour, possibly a lighter/brighter colour as it would relate to the production logo we made. He also felt that the production title should be moved away from the middle of the screen as it meant that there was less emphasis on the character in shot which is not what we want to show.
Lastly he thought that the music at the start should fade in rather than suddenly start. This is because the production logo suddenly jumped to the opening sequence which looked a bit unproffesional.

Friday 4 March 2011

Review of 1st - 4th March

Over the past 3 lessons we have been editing our final sequence using the rough cut we produced earlier in the term. On Tuesday 1st we began to upload and create the sound and sound effects we were going to use in our production. We tried to use one garage band track with all the music and the sound effects however we found out it was difficult to get the timings of the music and the pictures on screen to work together. As a result we began to experiment with the sound and the effects separately. On Thursday 3rd we carried on with the sound and uploaded the background music to the sequence. We then placed the correct sound effects to the image, which would be perfectly timed in the sequence. We also received peer feedback on our product and the criticism that we were given was attended to. On Friday we began to produce the credits for our production. This was a hard decision as we felt the correct font, colour and transitions of the credits was very important. We opted for a bold font with a dark red colour which we feel represents the narrative and sub-genre well. We also felt that we should use the typewriter effect to show our credits as it related to the newspaper articles and pictures.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Peer Feedback

After our peers watching the Rough Cut of our film we have the following feedback:

Shots: They felt there was a variety of shots used including establishing, panning, tilt shot and wide shots.

Mise-en-scene: They felt that it worked with the genre. The costume was well thought out and the fact the killers face was never shown created questions from the audience. The props were well chosen such as the knife, can of beer and sheets of paper - this gave an idea of the killers psychological aspects.

Sound: They liked the ambient sound used such as the footsteps, crumpling of paper and the door slamming at the end of the scene.

Editing: They felt that there was a lack of transitions with only jump cuts being used. However they felt that it made the sequence fast as the shot duration was quick.

Improvements: There is a continuity issue involving the folder and knife near the end of the scene. This needs to be changed/improved so the audience understands the sequence more clearly.