Ev 3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

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At the beginning of this project I did not have much knowledge on codes and conventions that is why I scored myself a 2/10 . However after a few classes I learnt that ‘conventions are the generally accepted way of doing things. Conventions is what the audiences expect to see’  My initial idea for this project was to create a film with the sub genre of supernatural thriller. After deciding this I drew a mind map for the conventions from supernatural horror films like  “The Evil Dead” and “Cabin in the Woods” and decided that from these horror films audiences can expect to see death, jumpscares, an Isolated house, and a supernatural figure. Therefore I applied all these conventions to the the opening of my film. For example, the supernatural figure which is shown towards the end of the clip. I also learnt that codes are a system of signs that create meaning. There are two types; symbolic codes and technical codes. Symbolic codes include acting, props, and language. Since we are filming in Thailand we wanted to create an environment that would realistically portray Bangkok’s atmosphere. We achieved this through using symbolic codes. For example, we decided to film at a market, a bus and let the character wear thai uniform in order to create a believable representation of bangkok. While for technical codes, this includes sound, lighting, camera and editing which I experimented on using adobe premiere later on in the project. I explored how I used these conventions in my response to question 1.

I believe that there has been a small improvement for my planning and organisation skills. This is because I feel that I have been organised with the project from the beginning. However blogger has helped me improve my skills as it has allowed me keep track of my progress and plan and schedule future events. For example, the picture shows 2 occasions where I used blogger to create a plan for the filming day and list down all the due dates for each objective. For the filming day schedule I made sure to include an hour for traffic. This was because we were filming at 2 different locations and therefore we had to travel a lot. On the day we found that there was not much traffic and therefore we were on schedule and managed to finish filming at 4pm rather than 5pm. In addition, for the due date schedule I made sure  to set a task each week. I refered to this schedule and edited it quite often as some tasks were completed earlier than predicted. Overall, I was able to stick to the due dates and complete my coursework during the first week of february.

My Camera work skills have improved as well but like Planning and Organisation skills it has not improved that dramatically. This is because I already had a good understanding about Camerawork after taking an external photography lesson. However In class I learnt about other elements of cinematography like shaky cam, pan shots and did an analysis on different shot types. I did this for the film “Heat”. This helped improve my understanding for each shot type and realise the deeper meaning for it. For example, I learnt that a low angle shot makes the character look more dominant and give them power as their figure immediately appears more intimidating. In addition, to improve my camera skills further I watched a thai horror film called “Take me home” The opening of this scene shows a pan shot of picture frames and displays the credits beside it. I really liked this idea and decided to apply it to the opening scene of my film as well. The picture shows my own interpretation of the pan shot create in the movie. Also, for this project I made sure to include a variety of different shot types like for example, close ups, mid shot and tracking shots

Like my visual effects skills, my editing skills have improved dramatically as well. At the start of this project I only knew how to edit videos on Imovie, that is why I scored myself a 3. But later on in class we were introduced to a software called Adobe Premiere Pro. Like for after effects I also looked at several tutorials online on how to use premiere. Once i had the basic knowledge on how to use it I tried experimenting with premiere by creating a short clip on “psychological thriller”. From then I wanted to expand my knowledge and improve my skills and technique so I tried experimenting with green screen, creating layers and colour grading. For example the picture shows how I’ve colour graded each clip decreasing the temperature because I felt that this would create a cold, lonely and sad atmosphere. Also for the layers I did this because it helped reveal the two characters’ relationship.

QUESTION 4

FINAL PRODUCT

WHAT WENT WELL?

- I like the use of the diegetic and non diegetic sounds that combine to build up tension.

- The chicken scene - because it hold connotations of murder and foreshadows what may happen in the film.

- The colour grading - I like the use of the blue tone because it makes the film appear to lack a sense of life which suits the plot as the character's friend died. 

- The choice of location - (The alleyway and the bus especially) 

- I learnt how to do the glitch effect. I added the glitch effect to symbolise an error in their relationship. 

- I also learnt how to use premiere and after effects. This was quite challenging however learning how to use it was quite exciting. 

- I like how organised we were with the schedule and the planning for each shot. 

EVEN BETTER IF?

- I think we would have benefitted more if we had another day to film.

- Would be better if we could learn how to create our own soundtrack.

- Finalised the plot idea earlier and try not to make changes.

- Create my own cinematic company instead of using Lionsgate. 

- If we filmed with the same camera - by doing this editing would have been easier.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the outcome, I really enjoyed doing this project and expanding my editing skills. I've had a lot of fun casting the main actress and working with them. However, perhaps If I were to do it again I would try using other applications -for example editing on final cut pro and premiere and compare the difference between the two and see which I'm most comfortable with. 

CREDITS

Now that we have completed editing the structure, sound effects and colour grading we have to add the credits. Premiere does not have the font and the burn effect we want to use therefore last time we tried editing on After affects and it had the burn effect we wanted. So today we will be applying 

the opening clip into after affects to add in the credits.

Like last time we used the Optimus princeps font. We weren't able to include all the names that we planned to for the credits. So we selected the ones we wanted and changed a few names. We also had to readjust the opacity of the fade in/out effect to match the clip and readjust the position for each name. As a result this is what we produced.

COLOUR GRADING

Today I worked on colour grading on premiere pro cc. I did this by creating an adjustment layer and then using the lumetri colour correction effect I changed input LUT to canon 1D C - SL - PROFILE.

This decreased the saturation of the clips and gave it a matte look. However I still wasn't fully happy with this so I had to decrease the temperature. I felt that by working with a blue tone it would make the opening look more tense and cold. Also, since we used different cameras to shoot different scenes the quality / saturation / and tone were different so I had to separate these adjustment layers and edit each individually. This is the outcome and a comparison.

LIKES DISLIKES- IMPROVEMENTS

- I like the blue tone created because it matches the plot.

- I think I need to readjust the exposure in the bedroom and bathroom scene. - Has to be darker + temperature should decrease to create more tension.

AFTER MINOR READJUSTMENTS

AFTER MINOR ADJUSTMENTS

Today we worked on minor adjustments for example readjusting the volume of humming sound effect in the bathroom scene, readjusting the opacity of the layer scene - (burning picture clip), increased the duration of the last picture in the panning panning shot to 50%, and added glitch sound effects into the long pause for the title to make it more interesting.

This is the completed/edited clip sequence + sound effects for the film opening. Now that I have completed this I will have to start colour grading each individual clip.

EDITING ON PREMIERE PRO - PART 2

Today we started editing the second half of the film opening on premiere. For the second half we wanted to do something different (not just use the glitching effect) so I added clips that I took the other day and created an opaque layer over the main video clip. I used the burning and tearing picture clips to show the hatred the main character has for her friend.

Below is a video is what we have done so far.

However this is still not the final video clip. We will still have to add more sound effects especially to the bathroom scene because we feel like not enough tension is built. Also, once the final sequence with the sound effects has been completely done we will focus on editing the colours. After colour grading we will then apply the film opening into after effects and edit the credits.

LIKES AND DISLIKES - HOW TO IMPROVE

- I like the dripping sound effect at the end I felt that was quite effective.

- I feel like the bathroom scene has either been rushed or the sounds effects used aren't suitable and not effective in building enough tension.

- I think that we may have to adjust the opacity of the layer scene - (burning picture clip) because right now it looks quite weird and does not fit the film.

- The humming sound effect in the bathroom scene come a little too sudden - Need to readjust. 

- We think that there should be a longer pause at the end of the picture scene shot.