Re-editing session - 20th of January

Re-editing session - 20th of January

During this session we were focused on getting the last details of the edit perfect before upload. We began by watching the edit together before organising any faults we had picked up, this was then followed by gathering feedback from two unbiased sources. After asking them both for feedback we refilled areas which featured badly lit footage as we had already planned for this to be carried out earlier in the week so this was not unexpected.


We then improved title placement and appearances to ensure the title sequence was obviously separate from the rest of the plot in the opening. To proceed we watched the edit again as we wanted to watch how the developments had effected the scenes. Audio was played with to ensure everything was a comfortable volume before we added in the new reshoots and then re-watched the edits again. 

Moving on with the feedback we decided to play around with the title sequence aesthetic to ensure it was clear to the viewer that this was a separate area in the opening. We decided on a black and white filter on each shot before adding the last pieces of audio into the edit. And of course, we re-watched the edit once more as a team. Watching the edit allowed us to pick up on small faults and add in some extra layers of sound to create many layers of audio adding to our mine-en-scene. 

Finally we watched the edit separately to grasp our individual thoughts on the edit before deciding to get one last piece of feedback from an unbiased source. This allowed us to confirm the edit was ready for upload onto YouTube. Finally we uploaded the edit to Youtube and still insisted on re- watching this to enjoy what we had produced with a less critical eye. 

Re-editing session - 13th of January

Editing session - 13th of January

During this editing session we decided to begin editing our scenes which feature the character 'Larreh', the shots we took had to be reviewed as we tested multiple angles to see which would edit together to make the best sequence. After deciding which shots we liked the most we moved onto simple editing of adding the shots into the timeline after removing unnecessary aspects of each shot. 

During this time we found many unusable shots which we planned to make into a short video which would illustrate the struggles we faced when filming. After rewatching what we had already edited we decided to begin adding any necessary transitions and our new audio. The audio we chose needed to flucutate in volume which we did after researching the method to do this. We then moved around any of the 'Mirabelle' walking shots to ensure the journey of her getting to the office and the park were consitent and logical.

After successfully changing audio and dialogue volumes we decided to add required titles and then move onto planning which footage we will use on our title sequence. To create this we produced our titles and then added footage before playing around with the 'tape' flash which we decided to keep from our first edit. As we added audio the seuqence began to feel more complete and of a better quality. We decided to end the session with a rewatch of the edit and plan any modifications required in the next editing session. 

Re-editing Session - 11th of January

Re-editing Session - 11 th of January

To begin our second re-editing session we uploaded our next set of footage which includes all outdoor scenes of the characters 'Mirabelle' and 'Geraldine'. We watched the multiple shots and picked the best version of each shot to put into the 'flashback' segment of the opening. 

After editing the basic segments of this footage and placing into the sequence we decided to focus on transitions to ensure the footage was consitent and flowed. After multiple tests of placement and transitions to figure out whicha arrangement was the most effective to enhance our plot and attempt to keep the opening as concise yet effective as possible. 

We had anticipated audio to be an issue during this edit as the location was outdoors, because of this we researched possible methods for removing wind background noise but had ensured to set aside any time we would possibly need to re record the audio using a microphone. This was the most effective route and did not take too long to correct after meeting with the required actors. 

During this session we decided to get various opinions on the newly edited footage so grouped together some peers for an evaluative focus group. The most common comment was that the shots were interesting though the shots could be more consitent by scaling one of the dialogue shots. We took on this feedback and completed this which did make the overall segment much more effective. 

After planning we decided to incorpirate more shot types into this section than originally planned. During editing we could see this was a good descion as it was much more interesting using pan movements to track character movement than to have all static shots in the opening. After editing the outdoor scenes we decided to insert any walking shots of 'Mirabelle' as this set us up for the following editing sessions which would only need to add the other flash back segment and the title sequence. The sequence of Mirabelle walking incorporated titles which had been produced previously so we added these in as the last task of this session before reviwing new audio for the flashback segment.

These are some scenes we edited :

Rediting Session - 6th January

Editing Session - 6th of January

During our first editing session myself and Chloe decided to remove any footage that was not required for our re-edit. We then progresed by rough editing our first elements of re-shoots using basic adjustments to decided on an order of footage. Our first refilming session took place on 4th of January which left us with the footage of the 'Kathleen' character to edit. 

As we were using some shots that we already had the editing process was faster than we first thought. After deciding on a final storyboard it was evident to us that the editing would be a legthy process so to make this process much easier we decided to seperate all aspects into various folders which made the locating of files much quicker when putting the original shots into the timeline before adding any audio and transitions to enhance the basic shots.


After we had edited the footage in order we decided to continue by adding the relevant music and transitions for the start of our thriller opening. We did not come across any major difficulties when editing the first part of footage as it was the most simple section of the thriller opening that only needed to be put into a cronoligical order with some titles that were left in the sequence monitor from our previous edit.

We then decided to leave a large gap between footage as we had not yet added our next section of footage which needed to be placed after a section of 'flashback' footage. As before we had to edit remaining titles into the opening that involved the Kathleen character. We also decided to include video transitions into the footage as it made the shots blend together much more naturally. 

The editing during this session was fairly simple with little going wrong throughout because of this we had spare time to play around with fonts and title effects to ensure we would not have to stress about these aspects during our next editing session. Below are screenshots of the edited footage from this session :

Our Final Video

Reshoot Unusable footage

Below is a video with some of our reshooting sessions including unusable footage and outtakes :

Reshoot- 12th of January

Reshoot - 12th January 

For our last reshoot session we decided to use the location of the media studio as we required a dark room which does not appear to be a normal 'office' yet still appears to be a meeting room for the character of 'Larry' and his employees. The studio also allowed us to experiment with lighting and shadows which we had planned to explore. As we utilised the studio's space we decided to dress the set of the 'office' with some stationary supplies and other props to have a continous balance of mise-en scene.

The scenes contained dialogue and some action shots of Chloe's character who was asked to join her boss. The tripod was used again in this shoot to ensure shots were stable and did not seem of a low quality. The shot types were varied as we did not want the character of Larry to ever be seen fully in a shot to create an atmosphere of ambiguity. We decided to utilise various angles to show the differnece is status and illustrate the hierachy of the two characters played by Ben and Chloe.

The reshoot was the longest and hardest we have completed as it required many test shots and various cuts to ensure the shot-reverse-shot edit could be achieved with some individual effective shots to depict the conversation and action well. The lighting was tricky to decided as we knew we wanted Larry's character to be well lit as this would contrast against the black background of the studio portraying the contrast of character types in the opening.

The studio provided some obstacles that were easily overcome, an example is the black curtain which did not cover the entire green screen in some shots. To fix this we repositioned the set and curtain in test shots until the most successful set up was found and used. Our actor Ben was helpful in overcoming any mise-en-scene and representation issues as he provided his costume allowing us to have the 'suited' and 'scruffy professional' characters we required in the scene.

The Larry character was essential in the scene to create the desired narrative, Ben enhanced the role by providing the costume we had planned for him to wear in the office scene. The scene was effective as we had incorpirated many shots and an interesting scripted section of dialogue that allowed us to play around with the characters. Both actors were completely reliable and helpful in creating an effective series of shots. 

Reshoot- 10th of January

Reshoot - 10th January 

To continue our reshoots we decided to shoot the scenes of 'The Exchange' which involves our actress Sophie. We decided to make the character of 'Geraldine' appear more casual to the public as her occupation is an intelligence agent. To ensure this came across on screen we used 'Millie' her pet dog in the scene to give her character a more low-key disguise. We also decided to utilise a casual costume that would portray the character as inconspicious and an average member of the community visiting the park.

When filming these scenes we decided to utilise the park location with a bench giving the scene another prop which is relevant to the plot and enahnced framing and set dressing. As our narrative utilises the park location in the tape's journey montage we decided to film when lighting was similar in those shots. 

As before we used a tripod as this ensures the camera was steady giving a good quality shot. The placement of characters and props was effective throughout which prevented any negative aspects of the reshoot session however, weather proved a difficult point when watching the shoots back. (This was dealt with in post editing). We decided to illustrate the working realtionship of the character who do not explicitly share a friendship but are known to be companions in some form. The placement of the character and varied shots portrays the distance of the characters as they are not physically close and sit on opposite sides of the park bench demonstrating the lack of emotional connection.

The shots were mostly seamless to film but we still decided to complete test shots as we were experimenting with pans and tilts to find the best composition of shots. The reshooting session was only difficult in terms of audio in two shots which was an element we could not change, other than this myself and Chloe both found the session to be successful and a good learning curve.

Reshoot- 9th of January

Reshoot - 9th January 

During our shoot on the 9th of January we decided to film the scenes which involve Chloe's character walking in various location with the envelope which visualises the journey of the tape. When shooting we decided to use various areas of our local town with pavement shots and park shots. These shots were essential to include as it gives the audience an insight into the journey that Mirabelle went on in order to illustrate the importance of go-betweens in our opening sequence. The shots we took focus on the prop and Mirabelle's shoes to portray her professional attitude and desire to complete her task to the best of her ability.

We decided to utilise various shot types and angles which focus on Chloe's character walking, to achieve this we used a tripod as this ensured the shots were stable and of a good quality. We had attempted to film these shots on the previous evening but later found lighting and weather was a significant issue, we decided to postpone the filming to the following afternoon stratigically timing the filming session before sunset. The lighting was not overly bright or warm as this would suggest that the character has a positive reputation which is the opposite impression we desired the character to have.

Once we had performed various test shots we moved onto the proper filming we decided to utilise multiple park areas, an alley way and a footpath. Lighting was good as it was daylight and ensured our mise-en-scene was interesting with an integuing yet mundane aesthetic. The locations we used had been planned in our location posts seen earlier on in our blog, they worked successfully in translating our narrative to screen. We had planned the timing of filming well to ensure lighting enhanced our locations.

We decided to shoot a shot which would be part of the 'office' sequence which depicts Chloe's character making her way to the undisclosed location. We used a local carpark which has a well lit stairwell to create the shots and tested various positions of the tripod to get the best heights and angles. The stairwell is split into two sections which gave easy access when creating a small sequence of travelling up the stairs which translated well on screen.

Overall, the filming session was productive after struggling with lighting in the original reshoot for these scenes. The tripod was a successful resource which enhanced the filming and we did have to create multiple test shots to make sure we would not have to reshoot again. This was the only strain in the filming process for our second reshooting session. 

To Do list and Improvements

Below is our to do list for reshooting and improvements for our second edit :

Reshoot - 4th January

Reshoot - 4th January 

On our first day of re-shooting we decided to take on the shots which we had modified and improved from feedback which are set  in the 'house' location and include the protagonist of the opening. The re-shoot required the main props seen in the 'modified props' blog post. 

We decided to use the same camera and tripod that we used for our footage filmed for our first edit as this is the most effective set up along with a combination of natural and artificial lighting. As we had devised a to do list with improvements and a sufficient filming schedule we decided it would be effective to breakdown the storyboard into our filming schedule to ensure lighting was consistent in each location used in the opening. 

On this filming session we found a few issues regarding continuity as we had to ensure the layout of the bedroom location and hallway was the same in all shots even when the tripod had to be repositioned to ensure angles and framing was effective.

The aim of the session was to reshoot the footage we had planned to improve and modify, we ensured the modified storyboard and script were easy to follow and could influence interesting shots and framing. The lighting and layout problems were fixed easily allowing myself and Chloe to complete the filming of the first and last scenes after we had identified improvements to be made to our first draft.

The filming session took place in my own bedroom as this location was the most effective in terms of mise-en-scene. As the character of Kathleen is portrayed as an average teenage girl it was essential that we captured this in the opening. The costume of the character was as orginally planned to compliment the character's position in society. The reshoot allowed us to test various new angles and framing to achieve both an easy to follow and interesting narrative paired with unique visuals.

During the filming session we finished the first and last scene of the opening and ensured the to do list points for these scenes were ticked off to ensure editing could commence as quickly as possible before gathering more footage required. 

Modified Risk assessment

This post was created by Chloe , my team partner :

Here is our updated risk assessment that cosniders the risks in new locations and scenes soon to be recorded :

Modified Actors

This post was created by Chloe , my team partner :

These are the actors which will be involved in our film:

 Chloe - Chloe is a main character in the film who appears in multiple shots and is in possession of the tape once Ben gives it to her. She is clearly in some sort of business, however it is apparent that she is not as professional as Ben due to her messy outfit. She gives Sophie an evelope full of money in order to ask her to complete a job needed which clearly includes Megan.

 Ben is in a few shots in our film as he is the professional mystery businessman who is the first one in possession of the tape. He seems to be working with Chloe in order to deliver the tape to Megan who is seen as an innocent pure teenage girl. Ben is seen as very elegant and classy due to his neat suit and his posture which is very professional. The audience does not see his full face apart from his mouth, eyes and the close-up side of his face. This increases his mysterious personality and allows the audience to assume he is the antagonist. We thought that Ben would be a good person to use as he has history in acting due to his school drama talents and we also know he is reliable when we need him.

Megan is the protagonist in our film as she was in our first draft too. Her role has not changed as she is seen as a typical teenage girl due to her costume and actions. We decided that Megan would be a good feature in our film due to her being very reliable and how she acted really well in our previous draft. Due to her personality being witty and her being the correct age for the teenager she needs to be. She does not have any dialogue which makes her seem quite shy and anxious, especially when she sees the tape.


 Sophie is a new actor involved in our film. We decided to add a different character in our second draft to allow more dialogue and to let our film flow. Sophie - who plays Geraldine - is a very reliable person and her outfit choices fit in with our film. She is a good actor and we will ensure that she will be up to our standard. She is the one who is very money-orientated and is also working for Ben which makes her very mysterious and into crime. She is the go-between character and is relatable to the typical public due to her being casual instead of being dangerous or suspicious.

Modified Props

This post was created by Chloe , my team partner :

Modified - Props

 The bed is used in the film just like on the first draft. Megan (Kathleen) sits on the bed whilst listening to the tape which is significant due to the tape being the main prop in the film.


The envelope of money is also in our second draft. This is pulled out of my (Mirabell's) coat pocket before I hand it to Sophie (Geraldine). This is a convention of thriller films as money is heavily involved along with crime. As it is a large amount of money, it increases the danger and mystery that comes with it. It also allows the film to continue as it is the thing thatallows                                      Sophie(Geraldine) to complete her job.

 
The headphones are used in the film, just like on the first draft. These are a significant prop to the film as they allow Megan (Kathleen) to listen to the tape which is the most significant prop in our film. They allow the audience to understand that the tape is very important as well as the fact she is the protagonist therefore being the first seen to be listening to the tape at the end.

This is the walkman that is used so that Megan (Kathleen) can insert the tape inside. The walkman was used in our first draft and we will be using it the same way in our second draft.








This is the tape which is the most significant prop in our film as it is used in every shot and is clearly the reason for the mystery and crime apparent in the extract. It's bright colour allows the audience to identify it even from a long-shot and close-ups will be relevant. We used the tape in our first draft and will continue using it as we liked the idea of this being the main plot. It is also significant as every character is in possession of it in different scenes which makes it seem very valuable due to it never being left with nobody possessing it. It also links in with some sort of professional classy aspect due to Ben (Larreh) being the first one to handle it and he is extremely professional.

Modified Location Recce

Modified Location Recce Shots :

My House exterior.

Chloe and I decided to incorporate the location of an average household that depicts social normality which will be interrupted by the action taking place in the opening. The location also allows us to incorporate mundane objects during our title sequence in an ambiguous style. We decided to evaluate the bedroom spaces available to us as two of our scenes will utilise this type of room, as we wanted a large room which clearly depicts the age of our protagonists we decided to specifically evaluate our own bedrooms and those of our siblings. Once the location has been decided a filming schedule will be decided,created around the availability of the locations. This document will be located on my partner, Chloe Spencer's blog.

The decided locations:

After much deliberation, we decided to use my house for all shots,including exterior shots and some in the hallway and bedroom. We decided to utilise the space in my house as it is 
easily accessible to those acting in the opening and to my partner. As the main shots of the opening will be in bedrooms we evaluated the advantages of the ones located in my house.

Bedroom one Images

Bedroom one:
The two rooms we will use let in a good amount of light that can be easily manipulated with blinds and fairy lights to create the desired low-key lighting.
My own bedroom has a central bed which creates a simple layout allowing for use of the 180 degree rule which will be effective in our final piece. The props we wish to use in this location are all found in my bedroom which makes the narrative more convincing and clearly illustrates the protagonist's role as an average teenage girl.







Stairway,Hallway and Front door:

Stairway

Doorway

Hallway

Another area that will be featured in the opening will be the stairs and hallway found in my house. These locations will not play a major part in the opening but will link various scenes and will play large roles in the transitions of shots. Because of this, we wanted the stairs and hallway to appear as an average household would including props like a front door, coat hooks etc. We decided using the same house will allow for easy continuity and ensures lighting will be natural and low-key due to the many windows and few available artificial lights. The interior of these locations is light and neutral keeping the atmosphere of social normality and the ambiguity of the narrative.

Local Park:

The Park

One other location that will be featured in our opening is the local park 'Queen Elizabeth Park', we will be using this location during the exchange scene as this location is dready and creates a lowkey lit atmosphere that compliments the ambiguity of the thriller opening. The park scene will feature a bench as this illustrates the casual meeting place for the exchange which contrasts to the formal wear of the antagonist. We decided to use this location as it easily accesible for the entire group and will translate well on camera. 

The Studio 'The Office':
The last location which will be used in the opening will be the media studio which will house the scenes in the 'office' of the antagonist Larreh. The studio allows us to play with artifical lighting to achieve an interesting atmosphere which will depict the character's role in the plot. The location is easily accessible for the entire team and will allow for interesting shots and angles. The day we shoot in the location will depend on the weather as we would like there to be a dreary natural light in the scenes.

My partner Chloe checking lighting

Studio, door view

Modified Storyboard - In Depth look

An in-depth look at the storyboard for my thriller opening :

Modified storyboard

This is our modified storyboard that we created together, it shows our developed plot scene by scene :

Modified shot plan

Below is our modified shot plan which illustrates the shots we will use :

Evaluation of first draft and devlopment plans

Evaluation of first draft and devlopment plans


After several audience feedback focus groups and various feedback we decided to make changes to our orginial plot and attempt to create an opening which would be easier to follow and still incorpirate our basic initial plot ideas. The main prop and feature of our opening, the tape, will still be the fuel for the action in the opening. We took all feedback and had a 2 hour session in which we evaluated our first draft a final time before decifing which changes would be made to the plot.

We intitially chose which shots we wanted to keep in the opening and decicded which shots did not work and should be removed from the opening. We kept the characters and added one memeber of the cast after returning to our orginal casting line-up to decided which actor we would like to include in our second draft as an extra character in the opening. 

Our plot incorpirates the character of Mirabelle and Larreh more and removes the dialogue from the protaganist Kathleen's role as we felt this would result in a more effective sense of ambiguity. The plot still includes Kathleen returning home before having an unexplained tape appear. The modified plot focuses on the movement of the tape rather than what is on the tape as this allowed us to play around more with shots and character development. 

The tape is about to be listened to in the plot leaving the audience to assume what has happened and what the significance of the tape is rather than knowing what is on the tape. We decided this would be a better route for our story as it is more interesting and will translate better on film rather than becoming a very confsuing sequence. 

We have created a script and storyboard which illustrates our modified plot and will be modifying previous planning posts to ensure they corelate with the new plot. 

Modified Script

The improved script :

Scene 1: House


(Kathleen aproaches house before entering the door)

(Kathleen changes into slippers)

(Tape falls through letterbox catching Kathleen's attention)
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 Scene 2:  Office

(Flashback of Mirrabelle entering Larreh's office before sitting)
 
  Mirabelle: I got your call.
   
  Larreh: Thanks gor coming here so quickly, I wasn't expecting you until
    tomorrow. 

  Mirabelle: Well, it's not like we could put this off any longer.

(Larreh slides tape across the table)

  Larreh: Here's the money ... Put this with it

  Mirabelle: 42 North Street?

  Larreh: Of course *Pause* So, It's time  ...

(Mirabelle's eyes flick from the tape towards the camera, she graps tape and leans back on chair)

  Larreh: For the movement.
  
(Mirabelle exits office)

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 Scene 3:  Park

 (Mirabelle walks around various locations with tape)
 (Mirabelle approaches Geraldine who is sat on park bench)
 (Geraldine stands as Mirabelle gets closer, the pair stand together)

Mirrabelle: 42 North Street, she'll be there.

Geraldine: And my payment ?

 (Geraldine is handed tape and envelope)

Mirabelle: All 500 of it.

(Geraldine nods and leaves)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene 4: House


(Kathleen picks up tape from doormat, walks upstairs and into bedroom)
(Kathleen sits on bed and opens drawer taking out walkman and headphones)
(Kathleen puts tape into walkman and presses play)

(Hand covers Kathleen's mouth pulling her away)

Kathleen: *Gasps*

Music and shots cut ... Titles Roll