To expand on our chosen idea, myself and my group discussed what we could include or any other storylines we could make using the basic idea. We came up with a lot of ideas. We wrote them all down on paper and had a discussion to choose which ones we liked the most. We then linked these ideas together and decided what was to be included in the first two minutes. To help us plan our shots, we made storyboards and shot lists. These enabled us to plan each of our shots careful to ensure we used a variety of different camera shots and to ensure we remembered our specific idea. The storyboards meant we could draw our ideas so we could see roughly what we wanted the shot to look like and how long it had to be. The shot lists enabled us to write a description of each shot and angles used in detail. We also made floor plans for the locations we were planning to film in. This allowed us to decided exactly how we could film our shots and enabled us to see what shots could be achieved in that location. We also made a script of all the dialogue that was going to be in our film. This was so we could remember the dialogue and remind the actor if they forgot.
We encountered a few problems whilst trying to decide on an idea for our thriller. We had a few disagreements in the group as to some of the ideas that were suggested. We overcame this by continuing to think of more ideas until we came up with an idea we were all happy with. In the end we achieved this and the disagreements had been solved.
I think that our target audience would enjoy our thriller film. I think this as we tried to make the first two minutes very tense and full of mystery. We understood from our research that our target audience liked thrillers that created suspense, tension and did not give away too much about the film. I think that the first two minutes of our thriller that we planned to do tick all of those boxes. Our storyboards enabled us to create shots that would use different camera angles and tense music to create suspense and tension. Our script also gave us an idea of how everything would link together (sound and dialogue) so that we could create as much tension and drama as we could without giving too much of the storyline away.
The equipment we used to film our thriller was a camera and a tripod. We used the tripod to film steady shots, high angles and low angles. We used the camera without the tripod to film point of view shots and hand held shots. This gave us the ability to make our thriller look professional. To edit our thriller we used a software programme called ……………………………… This programme was v very good and allowed us to include different effects and sounds.
There were a few things that I discovered about the camera. I discovered that we could turn the light on on the camera so that we could capture better in dark locations. We also discovered how to do a variety of camera shots using the camera. We used the camera to zoom in slowly into a close up so that you could clearly see the facial expressions of the actors. We also discovered that we cold make a character look really intimidating by using a low angle to make them look tall, big and overpowering. We also discovered that to make someone look small and weak by using a high angle to imply this. Whilst editing our thriller we discovered that we could speed up and slow down shots to make them look faster or slower. We also discovered that we could change the brightness of the shots to make them appear duller or brighter depending on what suited the shot. For example we made the shots of ‘the dream’ bright and the shots with the girl lying down dull so that there was a contrast between the two shots. We also discovered that we could merge together two shots so that they overlapped so that the shots weren’t jumping from one to the other.
We encountered a few problems whilst filming. Our tripod kept getting stuck so our shots were jerky; we overcame this by changing tripods to one that was a lot smother so that we could film the shots better. We also encounter a problem whilst trying to film high angle shots. We figured that the best way to achieve this was to stand on a table and film below. This allowed us to get a high enough angle to film.
We also encountered a few problems whilst editing our thriller. There were quite a few things that we were unaware of how to do. We didn’t know how to change the brightness of a shot, or how to unlink the audio and sound, or how to use transitions or add titles. We over came these problems by requesting help from our teacher who showed us what we needed to use to overcome this, this enabled us to use the software a lot better and meant we could make our thriller look a lot more professional. We also encountered a problem trying to line up our sound with the thriller. This took a lot of time and patience to overcome as we had to make sure the music was in exactly the right place.
We reviewed our film again and again to see what shots were out of place or too long and where the music or dialogue didn’t match up to the shots. When we reviewed our thriller we spotted a number of mistakes. For example there were bits on the end of shots that shouldn’t have been there and there was times where the music didn’t link very well to the next piece of music. We adjusted this by cutting the shots or making them longer where they needed to be adjusted and we faded in and faded out the music so that it would link up better. This made the thriller a lot better.
In the editing process I learned that you need to be patient. I learnt this as adding the music or adjusting the shots can be very tedious and irritating but by being patient it gets done. I also learnt that it is best to watch the thriller over and over again so you can spot any mistakes and adjust them. I also learnt a lot about the programme we were using. I learnt how to use a number of techniques and effects so that we could make our thriller look more professional. For example we put transitions between all the shots so that they all linked together and were not jumping from shot to shot which would have looked very unprofessional.
Once our thriller had been completed we were pleased with our finished piece of work. I think that we had made it look as professional as we possibly could and used a variety of effects and techniques so that it wasn’t boring or the same throughout, however there was some kind of consistency. I think our thriller was interesting and didn’t give away too much of the storyline. I think it was slightly confusing however from our research we found that our target audience liked this in the beginning as it means that later on in the film everything gets explained and makes more sense.
I think that our video does match the specifications in our brief. It contains credits and titles, it is roughly 2mintues long and it and it is also aimed at people aged 15 and above.
Our thriller does match our original idea however we have changed a few bits of it. We decided not to include the shot of the father of the girl answering the phone as including this made the film really confusing and didn’t look as good as we had hoped. We also rearranged the order in which we planned our shots to be. We did this because once we had filmed it we realized that most of the shots would look better in a different order. We also decided to include a pan of and office which was not in our original idea. We did this as it made a really good opening to the film and made it scarier. We also didn’t include the idea about having a shot of the girl playing behind a tree. We did film this shot however decided not to include it as the scene was getting to long and boring.
If we were to do the thriller again there are a few things that I would change. I would probably use more techniques of editing in the film. Our film uses quite basic techniques and I think that expanding on the techniques used would improve the thriller. I also think that including dialogue in the thriller would improve it and make in more interesting. Although our thriller didn’t need much dialogue included some would improve it.
Once our thriller had been completed we showed it to our friends and to our teacher. They all thought that the thriller was good but also gave us tips on how to improve it. Our teacher told us to include a little bit of dialogue and talking as there wasn’t enough dialogue. Our friends gave us tips on making some scenes brighter and what we should’ve included. They told us to make the freeze shots in negative as this would make it scarier, we tried this and liked the idea so stuck to it.
I think that our film would attract our target audience. I think the scene where the girl is running away screaming and there is a voice overt the top saying ‘there coming’ would attract the audience. I think this as it gives the scene a supernatural feel and is quite scary. I also think that the pan shot over the office worktop would attract the audience as it is very mysterious and creepy and from my research I found that this is what hey would like. I think hat the shot where the girl and mother are playing might put the audience off as it isn’t very scary or particularly exciting but we needed to include it as it links with the rest of our film.
I think that our film would fit into the market place. I think it would as we have tried to include most of the things that make a thriller. We have included a cliffhanger, drama, suspense and mystery. So I think that t would fit into a market place.