EVALUATION OF POST PRODUCTION

When we were in post with my prelim task the process was quick and very little detail was involved however with the main task the post production was a whole new way of editing. Each shot was a lot more important we were following our own structure instead of the one given to us and we were given a lot more freedom with it as well.  We found that our set structure changed a lot during editing because we did a lot of shots. This meant that a lot of decision making between shots had to take place so we could decide the best shots suited.

Also with our prelim task we didn’t have the issue of time.

One of our main shots in the sequence was the tracking shot, this was because it showed our set off and we really liked the props we had taken so long to collect, this meant we had to sacrifice other shots that we could afford to loose.

Because the only editing we had don’t before our knoll age on using final cut pro was very limited however we learnt a lot very quickly. I learned to develop my skills during the editing process by learning it when I came to it. The rest of my group were equally new to the editing process as me but each of us developed skills on different things for example, we were all good by the end of it at sound and syncing it with the scene. We spent a lot of time making sure the type writer sound and the bangs in the second scene were all in the right places and fading them in and our when necessary for example with the radio we made sure that then the camera was near the radio the volume was at its loudest. We also helped a lot with finding the appropriate sounds. my group were perfectionists we were very particular on the cuts and the smooth transitions, with the continuity of the whole sequence put together, also the titles we worked out how to fade them in and out at the appropriate times. The sounds are what took our time up mostly as we made a rough cut very quickly. The amount of sounds we layered took a long time but helped the whole scene become more life like I felt. Before finished we added in some after effects for example the pipe and we layered the eye in the gas mask at the end.

This film sequence was obviously a thriller as well as it has a restrictive narrative. We don’t want the viewers to know a huge amount about the story at the beginning with our long tracking shot we let them know that it is set in 1940 and our title letting them know that 60 years has passed are the two main pieces of information they should know. However what should come up as a UN answered question in this sequence is, who this girl is? Why did she hide when the man came in? Was she killed? And, how is she still there after 60 years? If so she must have been killed but was it the bomb or the man that killed her?

The mood we are trying to set is to begin with a relaxed beginning into the story one the bombs have gone off at the end of the first half the mood should change to be a little bit more uncomfortable. Our shot showing the girls feet walk by should unsettle the mood and we want to finish with a jump, as well as the eerie singing and scratchy noises. This is the idea to enter the film with an idea of what the viewer is in for opening the title with an unsettle audience.

Going back to the sounds in our sequence, they were essential to our sequence as well as showing a range of skills. We included digetic and non digetic sounds. In the second half there is little digetic sound, the only sounds are his torch, the bricks and the clown that we close up on these are naturalistic sounds that helps the scene come alive however we has more non digetc sounds for example background music and bangs, this is because the audience need to feel as unsettle as him and this being a naturalistic scene the eerie music is only playing for the audience only, however in the fist half we include sounds like the pencil writing, the radio playing, the door opening and the bombs from above.

As our whole second half of the scene was lit by the torch only we needed very little else in editing the only thing we added to the scene was the eye in the gas mask.

To conclude our whole post production process we decided it was finished when we found no more to do with it, I am very please with the finished product as are the rest of my group. We were well organised in our editing, we took a long time but we found time to finish and the group got a long and allowed each of us to voice their opinion over others so everyone got their way at some point in the editing process leaving it a well balanced effort film sequence.

EVALUATUION AND ACCOUNT OF THE DAY FILMING

We shot our thriller on the 20th of January and we started the day by setting up and checking if all was good with our previous preparation. We turned up at 8.15 to begin our day of filming already set up. We planned shots that suited the space we had to work in and waited for our actress young Zoë Jackson.

Our preparation was all done and I was very pleased with our organization skills when it came to pre production. We had our story board almost completely replicated in our set and we had costumes collected already from our school theatre department. The problem we could have maybe addressed was the fitting of the costume to our actress. This was a problem because our costume was very big on Zoë. This ended up working well but was a problem at the beginning of the day.



When making choices of shots we had already established it in our shot list and story board however on the day small adjustments were made. We had already decided we wanted a long tracking shot to establish the set as we were please with the way our set had come out and wanted to show it off as well as making sure that our viewers knew the time period it was set (1940) to make this more obvious we would hopefully put sound effects like bombs, air raids and a radio from that time period, (maybe a Churchill speech).
Our tracking shot would need to be planned more now as we had the set and the camera and the track, we needed to establish where the camera would fit and we had to make choices with the items that were important to show. These items were for example, the radio and the photo, we didn’t want to waste time showing every little detail when they were irrelevant. The tracking shot ended up being extremely successful and after a few practice takes we got the correct shot.

Our costumes were simple and pre organized. We had a night gown that we got form our school theatre department and a gas mask. We had our modern time actor bring in clothes for example a zip up hoody and jeans, the way of showing that time had passed from when the young girl was down in the bunker was going to become more evident in editing we were planning. Our costume however was planned to help and make the sequence more planned.

Our props were what made our shoot for us. Having no dialogue. The whole set up of this sequence was reliant on our props being mostly taken up with tracking shot and close ups of specific props like our clown toy and books.



Our casting was easy we immediately knew that we wanted a young girl of around eight and Zoë was very up for it. Our man in the second half of the sequence was easy to fins as well. We have a psychology and drama teacher that was up for the job and we could guarantee that he would do a good job. These two both turned out a complete success as they did the job in hand and were consistent and efficient throughout the day.


The lighting in the first sequence was just a dim lit over head light until the end of the sequence when it was a little bit more complicated. For the ending we wanted to see the shadow of a man and to do this we needed a brighter light but to keep with the continuity of the scene we couldn’t just suddenly let the room brighten. So we decided to add a door in its place and put a blond head light behind it. This meant that the door opens and the light shines through leaving a shadow of a man. This worked well because the continuity stayed consistent and there was a reason for the light to shine in.



Over the whole day of filming we all shared roles. When one of us was holding the camera the other was either holing the boom (microphone) or watching what was being filmed on the big TV screen. When it was my turn and we were filming the tracking shot, I was watching for mistakes and I noticed that our light had reflected onto the photo frame so Charlie and Sophie had to re do the tracking shot. This was a very rare occurrence thought and we saw few errors with our filming. To make sure we knew the shots we would want we made it certain that we wrote down the take the liked the best so that in editing we would not waste time looking through our options when half of them are no good.

Charlie, Sophie and I worked very well as a team and had no disputed of rows. This made our day much easier being open to hear any suggestions from each other and finding a reasonable compromise with conflicting ideas. Being able to recognize our weaknesses and strengths we used all of these as advantages and worked with it.
I hope to work with both Sophie and Charlie on future projects.


To conclude in all our day was a success we finished with a good reel of footage and I am very pleased with the way it all worked out. The reason that it worked so well was because we stuck to the original plan that we had organized and no one tried to change or adjust them unless it was necessary and agreed by the whole group.

DRESSING THE SET

The day before our shoot we went into the studio and dressed the set. We had all of our props that we have bought from home and else where the imperial war museum blitz exhibition pack (http://www.iwmshop.org.uk/category/204/Facsimiles) and many more things that we show in our tracking shot, for example a type writer. Old teddies, old books, old food packaging, posters etc. this was all very important on our shoot day because we had a long tracking shot that relied on our props.

 

We managed to get a brick wall set that was meant to show an underground bunker. This during filming was easier to show with our fist shot of the set coming in on a Crain shot. We got hold of a desk and small bed as well as a shelf. To help portray to the audience the time in which our thriller sequence was set we made sure that the old letters, newspapers, and leaflets showed the era (1940,s blitz) however in the second half of our thriller sequence we needed to dress it as if a lot of time had past, we used a dust like substance that we dressed the set with as well as bursting open the porridge and food packaging and spreading the set with a mess, turning over chairs and ripping up posters as if a bomb hit the bunker, The mystery of the first half.

Our set dressing turned out very well, as we were very organised with our props and set it worked well on camera and I think that our organisation skills when it came to preparation for our shoot day was one of our strongest areas.

TESTING FOOTAGE

MESSING UP OUR SET FOR THE SECOND HALF


RUNNING THROUGH THE SCENE TESTING LIGHTS



PRACTICING OUR TRACKING SHOT

 These are some shots of our shoot day

Rehearsing our actress







The propaganda posters



Our actress writing the diary







Our set once the bomb had hit















Rehearsing our actress/ destroying the set







BLITZ Shooting Script

BLITZ Shooting Script

Tracking shot: Dimly lit: The camera focuses on an underground bunker in 1940. We track across various props in the room, for example, we see some shelves filled food and books etc. we track along and see posters on the wall of properganda relevant to the time period we have set this in. We then move across to a small table where we see a small radio which we hear playing a speech of Churchill, some leaflets, ration books, letters, newspapers and ID cards etc. We close up during the track to the newspapers to see headlines of events that have happened in the war. We then track across to the bed where we see a little girl writing in her diary drawing and occupying herself from boredom.
then we cut to a shot of her writing in her diary, to create a jagged and un-settling atmosphere we make this look eerie in effects. The sound of footsteps are now detectible, seen looking scared we close up on the young girls face as she goes for cover.
We then cut to black.
           
A few seconds pass until we hear the sound of someone breaking in to the shelter. A sliver of light is shown inside as the doorway breaks open.

Lit by a torchlight. The bomb shelter from the previous sequence is now covered in cobwebs and some items have fallen off the walls. A man walks around the shelter with his torch focussing on certain items. Looking at the shelves and the books, then down onto the leaflets on the table. He leans over to a shelf to pick out a book and lets his torch hand by his side for a brief moment. In this moment we see the flash of a ghostly figure before he shines his torch around. He passes to her bed where he sees the diary she was writing in. He flicks through some pages before hearing a brief noise and shining the torch around the room. As he passes the corner of the room his torch shines on the ghostly figure that is revealed as the young girl.

Cut to black. White type writer letters of B L I T Z. Appear against the typing sound effect and some eerie music.