Technologies

Here is a few images of come of technologies we used:

Final Titles

We originally wanted to track our titles onto surfaces using Adobe After Effects (as below), so that it appeared the titles were layered onto surfaces, but found it was difficult for a number of reasons:

• 
  
  There weren't enough shots that were long enough to have a title in it, and we didn't want to have the same title in consective shots.
• 
  
  There weren't enough suitable tracking points in many of the shots, and many of the shots are handheld so the shot moves too irregularly to track effectively.
• 
  
  The process is very time consuming, and we didn't have that much time.

After much discussion we finally ended up putting our titles before and after the sequence itself. This was for many reasons. Firstly we felt that it allowed suspense to build up before the sequence started itself. The opening sequence now cuts from titles straight into fast paced action which is very effective in delivering a shock to the audience.

 Secondly we didnt want to take away from the quality of the sequence itself. When placing titles in the sequence we felt it distracted the viewer away frrom the suspense of the sequence itself.


We were influenced to have these titles at the begining and end from many films such as The Bourne Supremacy which is a very similar genre to ours and then also a Monty Python film which although different in genre uses the titles very successfully.

Shooting schedule

Here is a copy of our shooting shedule used to plan all shooting dates and times.

Group Reflections

We are all very happy with our finished sequence, and are very pleased to have finished the production side of this project. We set out to create a sequence that was completely different to all the horror openings that had been made before, and are satisfied that we have done this successfully.

• We love the pace and excitement of the opening part of the sequence
• We also like the the tension created in the latter part of the sequence, especially when Hugh enters the house
• The music gave us a lot of stress during editing, but we think the the final soundtrack works very effectively with the images and titles

• We also like the narrative of our sequence
• We like the way we have framed the shots, and the way that we have edited it to make a continuous sequence
• We like the acting, and are especially surprised with Hugh's ability to drop seemlessly into character, delivering an convincing and believable performance throughout
• We are pleased that the titles work effectively, and dont take anything away from our sequence, dispite us not being able to track the titles properly.

However...

• There are many, many continuity errors in our sequence, such as doors being open/closed when they shouldnt be, things disappearing from rooms, mist disappearing from windows, etc.
• We were disappointted that we were unable to track titles onto surfaces, but this was not possible in the time given
• We dont like Hughs costume, but we made the decision to leave it unchanged from the test shoot so that we did not have to reshoot all of our sequence in difficult weather conditions

Summary of Audience Feedback

Group 2 Questionnaire

Final Cut

Fonts

After looking through many different fonts on the website "http://www.dafont.com", we have decided on a certain font named seebreeze. We were looking for a plain simple font that wouldnt look too amateur. We felt this font fit perfectly so it was downloaded.

We'd also like to wish Tom A a happy birthday today!

Titles - Names and order

We have drawn up a rough draft of all the names we will be using in our sequence as the opening credits and the order they will appear.
They will go as follows:

Focus Entertainment,
AX Productions,
Infinite Pictures
Matteo Bragoli,
Hugh Donnelly,
Directed by Tomas Poffley,
Produced by Thomas Aston,
Director of Photography Frank Imura,
Music by Thomas Aston,
Executive producer Hugh Donnelly

Main shoot: 28/02/2010

This shoot was not as successful as hoped. As feared the weather stopped us from filming most the shots we would have hoped for. For this reason we were only able to re-shoot the fight scene and a couple of others. Overall however everything neccessary was shot and we should be able to enter the final stages of editing with this new footage.

Rough Cut

Rough Cut - Group Feedback

Here is what we as a group believe we need to change for saturday:

• Different costume - Tom P will order a balaclava tonight, and Hugh will be wearing black cargo pants and black boots
• We will experiment with focus pulls over the banister shots in order to have variety in what shots to use
• In one of the final shots (the slow pan over to Matt's eyes), we will use a range of different focuses in order to achieve a more thrilling effect with the mirror
• We will try to achieve better match on action in the fight scene at the end by making the fight more similar each time it is shot
• In order to make the bad guy look more convincing we will have him looking around less when he is on the street
• We will make sure Matt closes the door as he enters the house to try and give the effect of trying to keep people out of the house

Teacher Feedback: DYM

I must point out that the lack of posts for the past week and a bit is almost completely down to Hugh being on holiday. But we have completed our rough cut, and here is the feedback:

• The beginning of the sequence needs to be slowed down
• The kidnapper looks around too much - needs to be more subtle
• All the stairwell shots work well
• Matt shouldnt leave the door open when he enters the house
• Pull focus on the bannisters?
• Try different focuses for the wolfman shot

Editing

We have just about finished editing our rough cut sequence.

We are really pleased with how its turned out. We will probably upload the video as soon as we're back from half term.

Have a good holiday people!

This is a chase scene from the film 'District B13'

This is very cimilar to the style we are trying to achieve with our film. The use of certain shots we may attempt to mimic. The fast paced editing is also a big factor in what we are hoping to get into our test shoot. 

The colour scheme of the urban environment is directly related our film because the setting of ours will be similar. From this I can see that even in a dirty looking environment an epic chase scene can still be created.

Test Shoot Preparation

Shooting times: Saturday 06/02 - 10am until 2pm
                        Sunday 07/02 - 8am until 4pm

Actors: Matteo Bragoli and Hugh Donnely

Props: Toy gun and Car

Costume

Matteo: Black jeans, Single colour long sleeved top, Trainers

Hugh: Black coat, balaclava, Black cargo trousers, Black boots, Black gloves

Production Meeting 5

This meeting was again spent storyboarding. Only me (Tom P) and Hugh were present because Tom A was in court. The storyboard has finally been almost completed however it has taken an extremely long time. The time spent is the equivilent of the running time of the film Avatar (2 hours and 40 minutes).

From this meeting we have decided that the next priorities are the shot list and scipt.

Production Meeting 4

This meeting has been mostly spent on storyboarding our sequence. The timeline was also finished and a list of props, actors and costume was made. The storyboard is about a quarter complete and very time consuming due to the number of shots we plan to have.

The main task that has been set is to finish our storyboard as soon as possible so changes can made if needed and all is ready for our test shoot on Sunday.

Opening Sequence Timeline

• Matt runs through gate
• Matt continues to run through carpark
• He reaches gate and opens it
• He runs through garden
• He fumbles through keys and then opens back door
• He runs up a short flight of stairs and through a room
• He runs into the front hall up a long flight of stairs
• On the first floor he runs up another flight of stairs and enters a room
• Here he crouches by a wall next to a window
• The sequence then cuts to a shot of a car pulling up in front of this house
• A shot is shown of the rear view mirror with armed man's eyes
• The man picks up a balaclava and puts it on
• The man steps out of the car and is shown holding a gun
• The sequence cuts back to Matt who is shown looking at this man
• It then cuts back to the armed man who is looking around
• From Matt's point of view again the man is shown to make eye contact with him
• Matt then crouches back behind the window and mutters 'Ah shit!'
• Camera lingers on Matt and a loud noise is heard which indicates that the man has broken into the house
• Armed man is shown in the front hall and begins to move up the stairs
• Matt realises he is in danger, he starts to run even further upstairs
• Crosscuts are shown between Matt running upstairs and hiding and the armed man moving up the stairs
• Slower cross cuts between Matt hiding and the armed man searching upstairs
• Armed man finally is shown a the door of the room Matt is in
• Armed man walks in, whilst looking around Matt tries to disarm him
• After a brief tangle Matt is pinned up against a wall with a gun to his head
• Matt gets knocked out with the gun

Shot References: James Bond

2.40 - Jump cut editing

0.25 - Rear view mirror shot

0.29 - Car track/pan shot - hugh getting out of car, ends with close up of gun

1.03 - Reverse track

1.14 - Running pan to CU

1.46 - LA running pan

3.17 - Reverse track MCU

0.14 - CU of hand

2.17 - MLS of character hiding

These shot references are some examples of shots we wish to mimic in our opening sequence. Having thse will be very useful because it will allow us to have a guide while storyboarding and shooting our sequence.

Proposal Handout

Proposal Toms and Hugh