Evaluation Task 7

Evaluation activity Five

Evaluation Activity Four

Evaluation Activity Three

Evaluation Activity Two

In this evaluation activity we annotated our Thriller opening and explained parts of it.

Evaluation Activity One

The Daedalus Proeject ( Final Cut)

This is the final cut for our thriller opening titled 'The Daedalus Project' After much research and filming, we have come out with this as the final product.

Poster Analysis

We created our film poster by taking a screenshot from our filming then going through a design process on  Adobe Photoshop, first of all we erased the background between the two characters and filled the empty space with a black background. Next we added the photocopy effect which added a mysterious yet powerful feel to the image, then the second effect of scratches were layered over the image to give a rough feel almost urban like which ties in with our film theme. Then we wanted to replace the white colour so we added a sepia tone colour and shaded in areas with the spray tool. We then added the film title with the text tool and we chose a thrilling font to follow our theme. We decided to keep the text black so we made a second red text and placed it behind the black text, then we also added a glow behind the text which helps the text jump out and also enables viewers to read it easily. Finally to pull everything together we decided to add a lens flare above the character.

The Deadalus project Poster

We created a poster for the opening of our film, it features the two figures from the opening, however the faces and details are blacked out in order not to give much away.

So we changed our music again...

After making and editing our rough cut, we decided that the music we were using, just did not fit in with the theme and action within our film. After searching for some music that fit in with our opening. Although we did not have any music in our rough cut, we had a track which we planned to use; which was 'Low of solipsism' however that was just to dark and depressing. After spending some time searching I came across a song by the band 'Placebo', titled 'Running up the hill'. The song blends very well with the scenes in our opening and has a similar feel to it, It also has a lot of potential to be edited well enough to fit the timeline of our opening. Therefore we plan to send a letter to 'Placebo' asking them for permission to use their song. This plan is risky however if they agree we will be able to use this song as part of our project. Which we believe will further the success of it.

Placebo reply from steedmanmarcus

Rough Cut Video Analysis

Rough cut of Thriller opening

Editing Rough Cut

This is a snipped of us editing our rough cut. The process was actually very succesfull, even though we did not add many effects. We plan to edit it into a full cut soon.

Film Log

11/12/2013 This was the first day of filming, we met at the filming location being Marcus’s house with the main actor Zak, we discussed the camera angles we were going to include and made sure the actor knew the tone we wanted to set and how the dialogue should be presented. The first day was mostly planning and collecting the right props and objects to be seen in the background, however we managed to shoot a phew angles and get use to the equipment we were using. 05/01/2014 The second day was very successful as we managed to improve on the erros we made on the first day of filming . The two main issues we had to face when it came to filming; was firstly when it came to filming the outdoor scenes it was dark, so therefore we had to wait another day to film the rest of our opening, if we had thought about the order in which we chose to film we could have had filmed the whole opening a lot quicker. The second issue being that some of the angles and shots that we wanted were just too unrealistic because of the space constraints. Now to progress we must film the outdoor scenes of our film opening. We were very organised and managed to film more than needed which will help when we start to edit. We managed to 100+ different types of shots and the success also came from making sure the lighting was perfect. 12/01/2014 Third day was brining filming to an end and making sure the shots taken were professional. We recapped over the shots needed and made sure to include them. 20/01/2014 Our final day of filming included watching back over shots and seeing if we could improve any. We also focused on making the dialogue crisp and clear without any interruptions or background sound to alter sound. The group is overall happy with the completed filming due the quality amount of footage recorded, the next task to complete will be the editing, which should be an interesting experience.

Thriller Film Poster Analysis

'Now you see me' is a psychological thriller with comedic value. The poster shows the main cast striking poses on a surface that looks to be moving and 'colapsing' which could relate to the title as you are made to believe that magic plays a key factor as 'Now you see me' is a play on words from various magic shows involving a dissappearing act. All the characters are looking up wich signifies that there's something bigger in the plot of the film. 

Setting Analysis After Filming

We decided to film at Marcus' house in a Penge estate, due to the urban nature of the place. It fits in very well with the crime theme of our thriller film, it just so happens that Marcus' house was available to shoot at.  We messed up the inside of the house to make it looked a lot more derelict. Something that could be representative of a young drug dealer.

The downside to filming in a house was that we could not get many establishing shots and wide shots due to the space. However the close ups and angles turned out quite well. An estate house was perfect for what type of setting we needed as it makes our character look almost out of place, which makes him appear out of his comfort zone, this allowed us to highlights the difficult situation that 'Zach' is in. We did not change much at the location in terms of props and furniture because everything seemed to look in place. On the outside scenes we can't change much therefore we will have to work with our surroundings.

Music We Plan To Use

We plan to use parts of this song in our opening as it is relevant and foreshadows the complications that are going to happen further on in the film. We do plan to edit this track in order to pick our the parts that we like the most. By doing this we can synchronise certain parts of the track to fit with parts of our opening as we believe there are aspects that we can connect; such as the first couple seconds of the track would fit in with one of the panning shots in the bathroom scene. Furthermore, this track can easily be looped and altered which makes it ideal.

Pre-Editing Sound ideas

Due to the fact that some of our scenes have some background noise we plan to use music over our film, except for the talking parts. However, as we have not filmed the scenes concerning the antagonist, we can not be sure whether to add music to those scenes, as I think a more ominous option would be to cut the music as soon as we switch to the antagonist. Or we could possibly transition the music into a different tone in order to create an ominous effect.

Another possibility could be to use contrapuntal music in the scenes concerning the protagonist, Zach. By doing this we could achieve an almost ironic effect in which the 'happy' music foreshadows the dangers that await the main character.

This is a prime example of a very good scene involving contrapuntal music from the film 'American Psycho', where the character of Patrick Bateman viciously murders a man to a very jolly piece of music.  I think the most important thing when using music of this kind would be to eliminate the 'cringe' factor, as it can make a film seem very cheap and not thought out. However, if done correctly, I think it could add a very ominous tone to our thriller opening.

Another possibility for our use of music could be to use a fact paced, continuous melody to present the pacey nature of our main characters actions, however we could further edit in changes where needed in order to adapt to the kind of shot and scene change. I personally really like this type of music for a thriller opening as it creates a fully ominous aura. Often music can change the whole tone of a film therefore we have to be fully careful when picking our soundtrack.

Letter to Placebo Band

Letter from steedmanmarcus

Production Log #7

Production log #7 from Steedman123

Final Day of Filming

We have finally finished the filming for our thriller film opening, however we are yet to edit it fully. Because we have a large number of clip; we are going to put them all together in a sequence then edit it roughly. This will allow us to decide whether we are happy with our film. If there are issues regarding some clips we plan to re-shoot if necessary. So far however, we are satisfied with the number and quality of the clips.

Behind the scenes photos and Out Takes

Here we have some snippets of our day filming, the top clip is a prime example of why we took so many shots, due to the amount of times we managed to mess up. 

 This image is of the outside location that we plan to use.

 Our main actor Zak, preparing for his bath tub shot.

Zak and I preparing the script for the very small amount of dialogue that we have.

Production Log #6

Production log #6 from Steedman123

First day filming and progress.

Once we sorted out all of our props and setting, we began filming. The process of changing angles with one camera was very tedious, however the shots came out mostly as we wanted them. Due to the amount of laughing and difficulties concentrating within the group we ended up with around 100+ different clips and shots. We managed to get quite a lot of footage which we plan to edit together to form our opening.

We faced two main issues when it came to filming; the first one being the fact that we filmed in the wrong order as when we attempted to film the outdoor scenes, it was already dark outside,whereas we did the indoor scenes during the day. If we changed the order of filming we could have done both of these. The second issue being that some of the angles and shots that we wanted were just too unrealistic because of the space constraints. In our second day of filming we plan to do the ourdoor scenes and due to the fact that we are outside we can actually work with better shots.



Production Log #5

Production log #5 from Steedman123

Script For Film

Prop list for filming

In no particular order of appearance

Clothing: 

Jeans

Trainers/possibly boots

Jumper

Jacket

Beanie

Ruck sack

Hoodie

Setting props:

Drawers

Bags of drugs

Bath tub 

Phone

The prop list for our film is rather short because out film focuses mainly of the actions and movement of our main character, hence the lack of them. Below are some pictures of the props that we are using 

Shooting script

S hooting script from Steedman123

This is our shooting script; shot by shot of every scene we filmed as well as the props, time and the outfit of the character. This shooting script has allowed us to keep track of every scene that we filmed. It will also make it easier to put the film together in the right sequence.

Setting.

For our setting we plan to use the house of one of our group members as it is situated at a very appropriate location for an urban thriller film. The house is located in an estate which is considered very urban and can be associated with the drug dealing/ crime culture. Furthermore we have permission to change the setting and mise en scene of the house in order to create the desired outcome. We plan to make the house messy as a way of showing that the main character is living rough and has been caught up in some serious troubles.

Collage representing our potential target audience

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Final Preliminary Task

This is the final completed cut of our Preliminary Task. In this we used various camera angles such as high and low angles, and different shots such as close ups and over the shoulder shots. We think the camera work was done quite well, however some of the shots could be re-done in order to improve the length and speed at which everything is done. In addition some of the dialogue is quite low sounding. Overall I think our Preliminary Task turned out rather well as we followed most filming rules such as the 180 degrees rule, as well as staying in character most of the time. We attempted to keep in theme by incorporating a thriller feeling into the story, which did not work out that well due to our bad acting skills. Also we added a comedic aspect, which in a real film would appeal to a wider target audience. We did this due to the fact that we wanted to incorporate our own personalities into the task as we won't be able to do that much during our real opening as it has to be a thriller genre. Overall I deemed the task a success with room for improvement in sectors such as camera work and acting.

Updated Character Profile

Our main character; Zach Moore is a some what Middle-class 18 year old teenager, who until recently lead a normal life. However, a surprising turn of events caused him to sell drugs to earn money to survive. As he grew up no where near the crime scene, Zach will soon realize that getting to grips with the business is harder than he thought.

Name: Zach Moore

Age: 18
Nationality: White British
Socioeconomic Level as a child: Excellent
Socioeconomic Level as an adult: Not good
Hometown: Beckenham
Current Residence: His house, abandoned by family
Occupation: Drug Dealer/ student
Income: £10,000 a year predicted from drugs
Talents/Skills: Very intelligent and creative
Salary: 0
Siblings (describe relationship): None 
Spouse (describe relationship): None
Children (describe relationship): None
Grandparents (describe relationship): None
Grandchildren (describe relationship): None
Significant Others (describe relationship):None
Relationship skills: Average

Physical Characteristics: 

Height: 5"11
Weight: 170 pounds
Race: White
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark brown
Glasses or contact lenses? NO
Skin color: White Pale
Shape of Face:Broadish
Distinguishing features: hair, nose
How does he/she dress? Refer to 'Character ideas and influence'
Mannerisms: Undisclosed
Habits: (smoking, drinking etc.) No
Health: Good
Hobbies: The Arts
Favorite Sayings: Not sure
Speech patterns: says 'Errmm' a lot
Disabilities:No
Style (Elegant, shabby etc.): Clean Cut Urban

Greatest flaw: Trustworthy

Best quality: Trustworthy

Educational Background: Finished A levels with great results.

Intelligence Level: High
Any Mental Illnesses? No

Does the character believe in God? No

What are the character's spiritual beliefs? None, very scientific, may change later
Is religion or spirituality a part of this character's life? No

Preliminary task process

The preliminary task requires us to demonstrate our knowledge of  camera angles and types of shots, therefore we filmed a short skit type video, where we act out different characters in a 'gangster' scenario where I owe the boss some money and I am being threatened. We shot it in our school and used various camera angles and shots such as extreme close up, establishing shot and high angle shots. We have included pictures from our editing process which took about an hour and is 54 seconds long.

Mise En Scene

The Mise En Scene of our location will be made to look unkempt and messy, and have a similar structural intergrity to a lot of indipendant films that you find, as often they have a raw non-over edited feel to them. As a group we like the idea of keeping the setting very 'raw' and 'real' which we think will allow the audience to connect with the characters and story line. 'Eastenders' is a prime example of this type of Mise En Scene as often you can hear floodboards creeking. Drugs are visible in one of our scenes which makes the concept very illegal.

The outdoor scene will be filmed on an estate in Penge, which means we can not change much about the setting without distrupting the residents. However, we think that the setting is very good regardless and does not need much change, other than possibly the placement of cars, which again, we have no control over. To add to both the indoor Mise en Scene as well as the outdoor, we plan to dress the characters in urban outfits, such as hoodies and jackets, this will connote the dangerous nature as often that type of clothing is associated with criminalistic youth. One of the rooms we film with 

'The Daedalus Project' Pitch

The pitch for our production features all the detail concerning the making of our film and the necessary things that are required for the process.

StoryBoard for out opening