Final Reflection on Film

 After handing in our rough edits done on either i-movie or final cut pro, we had to answer the following questions as a final reflection on the film process.

Reflection for Production Task
Respond to each of the following points (using complete sentences or paragraphs). You should include as much detail as possible in your responses.

1.   Describe any problems or difficulties your group encountered during the planning. These may include; organizational problems, group related issues, etc.
In the organisation process I was with Petra in coming up with ideas. We were well organised but it was hard as we had so many different ideas and separate concepts of what we wanted our horror movie to be. Our storyline continued to change each lesson and we had more and more new ideas we wanted to add and in the end we had to cut it down as it became to complicated. As Petra went on exchange, Lauren and Daisy accepted me into their group which worked really well, and I am really happy with the way everything worked out.

2.   Clarify any time-management issues your group encountered during the planning process and describe the steps you implemented to improve in this area;
Before Petra went on exchange we were really rushing to film, but we knew we were weeks away from being ready. Because of this when she left I swapped groups. With Lauren and Daisy we had no time management problems. We were very organised and has all of the preparation done with time to spare. We filmed in the holidays and so have had nearly 4 weeks to edit which has been plenty of time.

3.   Discuss whether your group made effective use of the provided templates to assist the film-making process;
We did the preparation sheets together and that worked well. In the filming we did use the film breakdown and props list effectively and without it we would have been very lost and unorganised. Although we used it, we did not stick to the specific shot types we planned on. This was because when we filmed we saw more opportunities for good filming. We also effectively used the film schedule so we were on track with filming as we had limited time. This really helped as it took much longer to film than we originally though it would.

4.   Explain whether the planning process helped your group during filming. In particular, discuss whether the use of devices such as storyboards, shot-lists, and rough edits assisted throughout the filming process;
The planning process definitely helped us in the filming process. Most importantly the film breakdown. This was the main template we used as a guide in our filing. As I wasn’t in the group for the storyboarding process, I only saw the storyboards finished but our final footage was different form the storyboards. They were good to get an overall feel of what the film will eventually look like and they did help in making the film breakdown but in the actual filming process we didn’t refer to them much. Rough edits we practiced helped also a it helped to get a feel for what you need to do and what looks good.

5.   Describe any problems or difficulties your group encountered during the filming process. These may include; organization problems, unreliable cast members, group related issues, equipment problems, etc.
Our group worked well together. We were all very organised and knew not to make it too complicated or unrealistic. Our cast was small with only Serena, Daisy sister who was lots of fun and really good when we were filming. She also helped with the props used which were unplanned but amazing.


 6.  After reviewing your footage and completing the rough cut of your film, describe any aspects of your film, which need to be addressed. i.e does your group need to reshoot any scenes; are any additional shots required; are there any scenes which worked better than expected.
The dress up scene originally was meant to be a picnic scene and we changed this when filming as Serena had amazing props to use. This scene turned out much better than expected with the sunlight coming through the blinds. Some of the night time scenes were shot in the morning with the blinds closed and they don’t looks as believable as I would have liked. Also the camera in some scenes is either shaky or is really pixelated and fuzzy especially in the beginning shot of Mr Binx. A few of the night time scenes got muddled with some of them with New Teddy in the dress when she shouldn’t have been as dress up was the next day! Overall our footage was really good, but if we were to do it again we would change a few aspects.

 7  List any skills, techniques or tricks you have discovered during the project.
I have learned many new techniques in the making and process of the film. One trick we learned was instead or our original plan to cut New Teddy’s neck and pull out the stuffing we used stiffing from one of the ruined toys under the bed and placed it around the neck to make it look like the neck was cut when it really wasn’t.

8.   Discuss whether you undertook adequate and detailed reflection to throughout your project. Have you provided enough evidence to support your work? (Look back at your blogs/journals and think about whether it looks like 6 weeks worth of work).
When looking back at older posts I have done ok reflections throughout the process. I do have the shooting schedule and practice edits up as well as a practice video done on i-movie earlier on. I think toward the end and the start of this term I have not done much reflection because I have been busy editing, which has taken much longer than expected. I think I needed to keep up the blog posts even after filming, which I haven’t done as well as I should have.

 Discuss your feelings about the production task:

9.   Are you satisfied with your groups final result?
I am really happy with our final result. Although it may not be terrifyingly scary it is still a scary movie, and once edited more will get better.

10.   Would like to change any aspects of your film?
No, I wouldn't. I am really happy with the footage and way the film turned out.

11.   If you could start the project again what would you do differently?
I would retake some of the nighttime scenes again to make them look more realistic as even edited with the brightness changed they dont look quite as good as they should be. I would also be more careful in muddling up the scenes with what each character is wearing, as it can make the days and editing very hard. I would also use a tripod to get still footage so it isn’t shaky and use a video camera, or change the quality so it is higher to avoid the image being pixelated.

i-movie

Today in class we started editing our videos. i did the title and cut the first scene of ours.
below are some of the i-movie shortcuts to help us in editing our film and speeding up the process.

IMOVIE SHORT CUTS

SPACE BAR: PLAY VIDEO AND STOP
COMMAND T CUTS VIDEO
COMMAND E EXPORT MOVIE
COMMAND G PLAY FULL SCREEN
LEFT ARROW OR RIGHT ARROW PLAY MOVIE FRAME BY FRAME
HOLD DOWN CONTROL KEY FREEZE THE PLAYHEAD
COMMAND N CREATE NEW PROJECT
COMMAND C COPY SELECTED FRAMES
COMMAND X CUT SELECTED FRAMES
COMMAND V PASTE SELECTED FRAMES
I OPEN CLIP ADJUSTMENTS PANE OF INSPECTOR
COMMAND Z UNDO LAST WORK

Film Language

Elements used to elict an emotional response in the audience:

Cinematography

Mise en scene

Sound

Editing: 
rhythm: beat of film
passing of time: rate at which film operates
graphic relationships: cut, fade.......

What makes a good edit?

- The beat of the music was in time with the cuts in the film
- Music creates the impact and makes the film powerful
- Colour scheme/temperature of lighting has huge impact and emotional significance
- Choice of sound sets the mood but also works to tell and enhance the storyline
- Types of edit that create impact includes, dissolves, cross dissolves, fade in, fade out, fade to black, fade to white, wash in, wash out
- Graphics: editing images; crop footage, overlay footage and fade it through layer, cutting out backgrounds ad replacing them with other layers (chroma keying), adjust the colours, layer photos on top of footage

i-movie

-command t; splits footage

Props list

Today in class we worked on a props list. this is a list of what we will need for each scene so we have everything ready when it is time to shoot the film. For ours we have divided it up into 3 acts. the introduction, middle and conclusion. Each act involves different props and we will need to have all of them for the film to work.

Shooting Schedule

Above is our shooting schedule. We are going to shoot the movie in the holidays so the exact dates we aren't sure of. This shooting schedule will mean that when we coem to shooting our film we will know where and what we are shooting so we get it done quicker and easier. We will shoot all of the daytime, night time and morning scenes at once to make it quicker.Also today in class we did a character and props list so we know what we will need for each scene and shot.

Shooting Schedule

Today in class we did the shooting schedule. This is a table saying when where and what we will be shooting and at what time of day so that when we come to it we will be organised and will know what props we need and what we are doing. THe film had a mixture of morning, daytime and night scenes but mostly night. all the scenes are set int he bedroom and hallway with the characters Molly, the little girls and the two teddy bears. New teddy and Mr Binx. The story of the film is Molly getting a new teddy bear and forgetting about Mr Binx. Mr Binx becomes jealous and angry and killy the new teddy bear. We have dicided to shoot the film in the holidays when we are all free as it is filmed in Daisy's house and in her little sister ( who is playing Molly) bedroom.

Today in class we were given time to take some practise video shots and edit them. I joined Daisy and Lauren with this and we took some shots in the locker bay, i then etided them and changed the brightness, contract, opacity and colour to make the shot look scarier. I have also decided to join Daisy and Lauren's group for the movie project as I think it will be better than me working on my own. Their movie is also in the horror genre but is about a teddy bear and is being filmed in Daisy's little sisters bedroom.

 

This is what i have done with the shots taken so far. At the moment we are just trialing and playing around with the different ways we can edit the shots. This is done on i movie. In this video i have changed it so that it is darker and the colour is slightly blue to make it look as though it is filmed at night.