CCR2 - How have you engaged your audience and how would it be distrubuted as a real media text

 

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CCR task 1 - How does your Product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Editing reflection

 This week we have edited our opening sequence. We started by selecting the rushes we wanted to use and dragging them onto the timeline. We then decided to work on the action scene first and then move onto the montage. We started by cutting the shots that we wanted to use to the parts  that we wanted, we then started arranging them into a sequence that makes sense and looks visually effective.

  

After moving the shots around a lot  we were starting to see the sequence come together and see how the shots worked nicely together as they were placed in the right timings.

We started with the action sequence as this is the baseline for our opening title sequence, however we also thought it would take the least time to edit as it wasn't as complicated as a montage. 

We then started editing and montage, this is a lot more complicated as we edited it at a very fast pace and had white flashes to add to the dramatic atmosphere. 

My favourite part to edit was the montage as I really liked the way it started to look and come together as it edited more of it, the way it started to look really motivated me as I realised how good we could make it look. 

A problem that we encountered while editing was in the action scene there were few shots where you could see the body doubles face as there was nothing obstructing it, to fix this we just had to use other shots where the doctor's body was covering his face so that you can see it through any of the scene.

There were few shots that we removed, for example we didn't use all of the montage shots as we had taken a lot more footage that we needed. We also removed a few of the extra shots done from different angles as we didn't like the way that some of them looked.

After watching it a few times we were given advice to switch the order of the action scene and the montage so that the montage came afterwards to build tension as it looked strange having the fast action of the montage then slowing down to the scene. It looked a lot more effective when we had done this.

Shoot day reflection

 Our shoot day was Thursday 13th May. We started off setting the studio up and laying out all the props. Matt helped setting up the lighting and putting florescent tubes up for coloured lighting. We then discussed how everything would work with changing the actors around and making it all look realistic. We then came to the conclusion we could use Fred as a body double on the table and use the camera monitor with Freddie (the clone)'s face on it to make it look like he is lying on the table. Freddie then acted as the doctor so that when he turned round it was the same face as was on the monitor.

I was really happy with the way the set looked as I think the lighting was very effective and that the table and monitor worked really well. 

We firstly recorded 10 minutes of footage of Freddie's face when he was lying on the table, which was played on loop on the monitor. To do this we put the camera on the tripod on top of the table and asked Freddie to lie on the base of the tripod while the camera was facing downwards.

Then we did the makeup on both the actors. For the clone we put a cut on his arm and then wrapped a bandage around his chest with fake blood on it. Freddie got changed into the costume he was wearing for the doctor, this was a black hoodie and jeans, with a bloody apron and mask on. Doing the makeup was very time consuming as the fake blood took a very long time to dry. 

We started the shots with a long shot of all of the action, this was the safety shot. It started with Fred lying on the table, and we had an idea of obstructing his face with some of the bottles and vases. Freddie started at the top of the stairs, then walked down, tied his apron, picked up a few tools and then turned around as if he was operating on the clone. 

This lasted about 1min30s so I was quite sceptical about the fact that the time may go over 2min as we still had to add in the montage scene and the reveal. 

I was overall happy with the safety shot and I think that the new and changed idea was very effective and a lot less complicated as we did have the actors changing round for the face reveal, but the changed idea made it a lot more simple. 

We then stared shooting the action from different angles, and doing some close ups. I thought that these looked very effective and am excited to see them when we stared editing and putting it all together. We took it in turns doing shots so we all got the experience of working the camera. As camera woman I was mainly in charge of positioning the camera where I thought the shots would look best but of course the people in my group communicated their ideas and put the camera where they wanted in the shots they did. 

Another thing that changed on our shoot day was that we had another person join our group for the day. He wasn't able to go to his shoot day for covid related issues so he helped with ours so he could get the experience of shooting. 

Shooting all of the close ups and mid shots of every action we wanted, we shot the reveal of the faces and the chip being removed and looked at. For the reveal, we had Freddie sat on the chair with the monitor next to him, then we did a focus pull from his face to the monitor to show that they are the same person. 

Then we had shot all of the action shots and all the shots that we needed both actors in. After a break we only needed one of the actors which was Freddie, as we needed to do a shot of him lying on the table as the clone with his face in it. However we made a mistake as we didn't take pictures of Freds makeup in order to maintain continuity. This is something I have learnt that we need to do and can use it in future shoots that I do.

On the shoot day I learnt how many shots we realistically need in order to get everything right. A new technical skill I leant was how to do a focus pull, as I thought it would be a lot more complicated than it actually is. 

When we shot the close ups at the end of our shoot day I learnt about how to put the camera into 4k so that we could have the shot twice as close if we wanted to. We thought of quite a lot of shots to do for close ups while we were filming and improvised with them instead of completely sticking to the shot list that we had. 

In the shoot day I used a lot of the skills that i had learnt in the initial camera workshops, for example focusing the camera, which is a key and one of the most important skills, we used a lot. We also used skills such as bubbling the camera a lot, and this is essential to make sure that the camera is level.

My favourite part of the day was filming all the close ups as I liked working out what all the shots would look like and stylising them. I especially liked doing one where we poured fake blood into water and filmed it spreading out in the water and creating a pattern. 

I am excited to add the titles to the opening scene in post-production, as we have just about finished making the font so I am excited to see what they look like. I think that a challenge we will face is deciding and coming up with the soundtrack we will use as that is something we have not decided on yet. We have not decided much of the sound that will be used for this scene yet so that is something I think will be challenging.

Overall I am very happy with the footage we have shot and I think that all of the work and preparation that we have done has payed off. I think that we have a lot more footage than we need and we may have to cut some of it out so that our sequence isn't too long.  

Research into similar products

This is a google slides presentation that I did explaining the research that I did into similar products to our conceptual idea. 

Conclusion:

I think that all of these products have a similar tone to them in that they are all about something alien and not human. Therefore they reflect our conceptual idea very well and could give us a lot of inspiration. 

I think that the one that links most to it is Frankenstein, as it includes the creation of the monster. In all of them, lighting and setting particularly are used to present mood and create tension in them. 

I think that this research task was really interesting and also important to help me get a different perspective of this genre and see what kind of thing we need to aim for in our opening sequence. It has helped me notice the small details that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought about which are things we need to include and think about. 

Research into similar products

Genre of our opening title sequence - Thriller

Sub-genre - Sci Fi

Movie - Us

Studio: Universal pictures
Director: Jordan Peele
Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Duke, Tim Heidecker
Year: 2019
TV show: Twilight Zone 'Mirror Image'

Studio: CBS Television studios, Cayuga productions
Director: John Brahm
Cast: Rod Sterling, Vera Miles, Martin Milner, Joe Hamilton, Naomi Stevens
Movie: Frankenstien 

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: James Whale
Cast: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff
Year: 1931

Video game: The Last of us Part II

Studio: Naughty Dog

Directors: Neil Druckmann, Kurt Margenau, Halley Wegryn Gross

Cast: Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, Derek Phillips

Year: 2020

Research into filming roles

 There are three key filming roles on set:

- Director

- Camera man/woman

- Editor

A director is in charge of keeping everyone organised and instructing actors and crew. They say the commands 'Standby, roll cameras, action cut'. It is important to have one person in charge so that everyone does everything at the right time when the director says. They are also in charge of reviewing the script, the shot list and visualising the scene. 

The camera man/woman is in charge of making sure the camera/s are in the right place at the right time and that they are rolling when they need to be. They are usually following the instructions of the director and they are shooting on a digital or film camera. It is also usually their job to set up all the equipment and position it at the start of the shoot. They are important as without someone working the cameras you would not be able to get the footage and create the sequence.

The editor cuts all of the rushes and puts them all together to make the sequence, they are also in charge of the sound and adding any SFX that is used in the sequence. They will have the storyboard and shot list in order to put everything in the right order. They are important as they put everything together and put the story together, as without editing the footage would just be lots of random scenes which aren't necessarily in order, they also are important for the timing of everything in the scene. 

Media production is a social collaboration, so it requires a division of labour to keep everyone organised, and because everyone is not specialised in doing all the roles. For example the editor may not be very good at handling a camera as this is not what they are specialised in. 

In our opening scene we have divided the roles between us, they are:

Director: Wendy Li

Editor: Amanda Otieno

Camera Woman: Millie Bubb

We have done this based on our skills, as Amanda is very skilled in editing and as demonstrated in our test shoot she knows exactly how to present the tone we want through editing. Wendy will work well as a director as she can give clear instructions and she knows exactly what we want the sequence to look like.  

Research into my role:

I am quite competent using a camera as I do photography so also know how to compose the picture nicely, therefore I am being the camera operator. 

To prepare for the shoot I will make sure to look over the write ups I did on how the Black Magic camera that we are using work so that I don't waste any time remembering how to set it up and how to work it. 

I will take a shot list and storyboard with me. The shot list so I know all the angles and shots that I need to take, and the storyboard as it is a visualisation of what the shots will look like so I can make them as close to that as possible. 

I will make sure that the genre conventions are used in the scene by using angles on the camera, for example using a low angle to show the doctor as intimidating, and close ups of the knife. This will successfully present the genre of thriller. I will also use the exposure adjustment to change the brightness of the picture, this will add to the mood as we do not want it to be too bright as that would take away from the mood that we are trying to create. 

In my role I will target the audience by engaging them with an interesting subject and well composed picture, I will do this by using composition rules, such as rule of thirds, and have a foreground and background interest. This will make the scene look a lot better and therefore the audience will have better expectations for the film. 

Editing our dialogue sequence

When editing the dialogue we used premier pro. We firstly selected the shots we wanted and put them into a log bin. We then cut the beginning and end bit out from when the camera was rolling but there was no action. Then dragged them onto the timeline and cut the shots where we wanted them. We used one of the soundtracks from one of the shots as we couldn't overlap them, and synced the video to the audio for all the shots. 

A skill i learnt in this editing session is how to link and unlink clips from the audio and video. This is so you can put an audio to a video that it wasn't originally with it, or vice versa. 

At first we found it quite hard getting everything in the right place, but then we got the hang of it and edited the rest of the scene. 

A mistake we made was putting the shot we wanted to use over the top of the master shot in the timeline, so if we took it away to change it, that part of the master shot wasn't there and there was a gap.  Now we know to make sure that each shot is in a different channel so they don't get in the way of each other.

Something we could have done differently and would have make our scene a lot better was not having the actors wear masks, however due to the circumstances, we had to keep them on. It made editing very hard as we couldn't lip sync. 

 I think we should have longer periods of time with each person talking and not keep switching between the two so frequently, as when they both speak a lot for short periods of time it is hard to know when to cut to each person as you can't cut every time. 

In our actual sequence I think we will do it in smaller sections when editing it and not drag everything onto the timeline in one go, as it got quite confusing. 

Overall I think that I learnt a lot from this editing session and am getting a lot more confident with using the programme. 

Shooting our dialogue sequence

 I was in a group with Amanda, Wendy and Perdy and we shot a dialogue sequence. We used the Black magic camera as this is what we will use for our final sequence, and we used the microphone and filmed a conversation between two people. 
Wendy and Amanda were the actors and Perdy and I filmed. 

We shot the whole conversation from different angles, starting with a wide safety shot. 

We used a lot of the techniques that we learnt, for example the 180 degree rule, as we only shot from one side of both of the people. We also used the rule of thirds where we could. 

A problem we ran into was the conversation not being exactly the same every time, which is a problem for the different takes in different angles as it wouldn't be the same when we were editing it. To solve this problem, we wrote a script on the actors phones and they read it so they said the same thing every time. 

It was also quite difficult getting the microphone in the right place so it wasn't in the shot.

I also think that a few of our shots had a bit too much background interest in it which took away from the main subject. 

Test shoot review

 I am quite happy with the way the edited test shoot came out. The timing is below 2 minutes, however we are not worried about this as we know not all of the shots we want to include were in the test shoot as we didn't have enough time/all the props.

We also didn't have enough time to film the operation scene, so we filmed what we could in the time we had so we could practice editing techniques.  

I think that our idea is quite clear, however would be more clear if we had time to film the operation scene and taking the object out of the clone. The editing made it more engaging so I think this will me a major factor of the final piece. 

I think that one part that was a bit long and slow was when the doctor is tying up the apron in Wendy's sequence, I think we should cut that a bit earlier. I also think that contrast in pace between the montage and the operation is something we need to think about as it will impact the tension created and will help engage the audience a lot more. 

I think the editing overall creates a lot of tension, however we just need to improve a few of the angles of some of the shots. 

For example the shot from above of the clone, we need to work out how we are going to do that with a big camera and think about health and safety issues. 

These two test shoot clips obviously will have a lot more added to them as we didn't do all the shots due to the lack of time. Therefore making it a lot shorter.

We also realised that we will need two tables for this as we will use one for the props and one for the operation, so will need to put a fake wall up for one of them.

The test shoot influenced a lot of change in our shot list as we changed around the order to make it easier and make more sense for the order to shoot in. 

I think something that didn't work as well as we hoped and was a lot harder than we expected to do was the mirror shot, however we plan to use a bigger mirror in the actual shoot. It was very hard to not get the camera in the shot and get the reflection in the right place.

We also didn't include titles in the test shoot as we haven't finished making the fonts so this is something we need to consider.

Something I think worked very well was the overall editing of the piece as I think it really bought all of our ideas together and confirmed our visions for our opening scene. 

Overall I am happy with the test shoot, I think we just need to be aware that we have a lot of shots and try and stay on schedule on the day so that we can get them all done. 

Test shoot

 Test shoot:

This is Wendys edited version of the test shoot, she edited it on premier pro on her laptop:

This is Amanda's edited version of the test shoot, she did this as an example of the editing techniques we want to use and to give us more of a feel of the mood and tone of the sequence. 

Plan for test shoot

We are going to do a test shoot to help up visualise everything and make sure it is long enough. 

Our idea is about a person who has set up an unprofessional operation room in his attic/basement and makes clones.

In the opening scene he is taking an object with data on it out of the clone, and there is a montage of the room. 

We are going to use all of the props that we have currently. Therefore we will not be doing all of the close ups in the montage that we will be doing in the real thing, this is because we do not have access to all of the props for tomorrow. 

For a table we are just going to take one from our media classroom and put it in the studio. We are shooting in the studio as it is were we are going to shoot in the real thing

I am going to act as the clone and Wendy as the doctor, then Amanda is going to film. 

Wendy and Amanda are both going to edit the scene to see what different outcomes they can come up with. Then we can discuss which editing techniques we want to use.