Rough Cut: Feedback

Receiving feedback from peers and our teacher was crucial as we were given constructive criticism and helped us see what our thriller opening looks like to an audience so far. We were also told what was good about our opening so far.
The first thing which was picked up was the colour of the titles - red. We were told that this did not suit our opening as it is not a horror movie.
Another problem which some people encountered was actually understanding the concept of our opening. It made sense once it had been explained; however we realised that if this was to be a real thriller we would not be around to fully explain the story. Therefore, we must change some of the camera work and re-work the order of the title sequence somehow. 

A strength of our opening was that we used match cuts, close ups, and other various shot type well. Also, the music accompanied the opening most of the time despite not being fully planned and synchronized.  

We have taken note of this feedback and will work on fixing these errors in the coming days.

Rough Cut of 'Two Minds'

This is the rough cut of our thriller opening 'Two Minds'. We haven't added all of the titles such as production and distribution ident and we are yet to edited them in terms of font, colour, size. We have some diegetic sound on set for e.g. footsteps and the door creaking when it opens, and we are going to amplify these sounds to make them louder which we have not done yet. We have also short listed some non diegetic sound for us to add to the thriller, but we have not synchronised the sound with the film. We have no transitions at the moment, but we will had some in later when editing. As our thriller is only 1 minute, we are going to add some establishing shots in the beginning.

Editing - Title Sequence

This is the Title sequence of our opening. We followed the order of the conventional title sequence. Our title sequence goes as followed: 

Production Company Ident
Distribution Compnay Ident
Actor 1: Fahmida Begum
Actor 2: James Muir
Actor 3: Alex Smith
Actor 4: Lynne Sharper
Actor 5: Terry Allen
Crew
Casting by: Tyler Camino
Costume Designer: Fahmida Begum
Music Supervisor: Ray Charles
Music by: James Muir
Editing by: Eugenie MacDonald
Product Designer: Andy Strong
Director of Photography: Nicholas Lopez
Executive Producer: Stacey Mac
Producer: Sally Rollip
Writer: Ashley Reis
Director: Nicole Miller
Film Title : Two Minds

Editing process - Sound

This google search was to get an idea of what sounds are usually used in the opening of thrillers. Searching for this gave me an idea of what types of music and the speed of the music that is used. We will get/create sounds on Soundtrack Pro and Garage Band.

This is the programme 'Soundtrack Pro' that we will get our sounds from.

Editing Process

This is the sequence so far of the opening. All of the footage has been used and most transitions have been added. What's left to do is find a soundtrack that fits in and to add foley sound.

Editing: Titles

This is part of the process of editing for our thriller 'Two Minds'. Once we had cut and ordered the footages we needed, I worked on the adding the titles onto the film. I followed the conventional order of title sequence - something which we had researched previously. 
I experimented with different fonts and colours. Although red did seem a bit weird, that was the only option we had to go for as the colours black and white were not visible on top of the film; red seemed to be the next best suitable colour. 

I also began to add transitions to the texts and clips so it does not seem too straight forward and boring

Editing: Choosing & Editing Clips

Once we had selected the clips which we thought were suitable to use, I began to edit them. I put the clips in order then cut them in order to make the thriller flow. I also looked at where it would be appropriate to add sounds whilst doing this.

Filming: On shoot vlog

This is a short snippet of the day we were filming. 

Filming: On Shoot Photos

The filming process went well for us as we managed to record all the footages we needed. We managed to use various shot types and everyone had a go at filming

By being able to film everything on the day, we reduced any continuity errors which could've occurred if we filmed on separate days. 

Setting up the tripod and camera

Our very own special camera man

Both the camera men working well

Filming - Props

The props which we had originally intended to use had changed because we did not think it would have much of an impact in the thriller. Therefore, we decided to use props which created a better context; such as a telephone, letters and flowers which would create a more realistic and office-like atmosphere. Most of these props were already in the office which we decided to film in.

Newspaper article we created

Diary

Flowers used to add an atmosphere that the office belongs to the detective

Objects to make it look like a real office

Letters

Adding small props like hand cream and calculator helps to make the office seem more realistic

A Desk

Files

Computer

Pitch Feedback

We received some useful feedback from the class about our thriller idea after we pitched our idea.  One of the main criticisms was that the production company we chose was too big for our film as we are an independent movie. Therefore, we should opt for a smaller and low budget production company such as Rooks Nest Entertainment and Wild Horses Film Company.

We were told that the plot for our thriller was a good idea and that there is not much to improve on. However, the storyboard which we created was not clear and the class did not have a good picture of what we going to do for the opening; so we decided to elaborate and explain our storyboard more clearly whilst we did the pitch.

The Pitch

This is our Powerpoint presentation which was used to pitch our thriller opening ideas. We presented this to the class and Marissa. They all provided us with constructive criticisms and feedback.



 

Pitch from Famzo

Planning: Props

This is the newspaper article that we have personally made to show the murder of Mr Simmon taking place in the future.

Planning: Props

These are the props we intend to use, although they may defer slightly on the day.

A mug that we are planning on having on the detectives desk. This creates an office-like atmosphere. 

A watch that the detective will be wearing on the day to show it is the start of the day.

A calendar we plan on having on the detectives desk. We will either use this calendar or  a diary to show the current date. This will show that the newspaper being given to the detective is in the future.

This is the diary we may use instead of the calendar.

Handcuffs and a badge to show the viewers that the man sitting at the desk is a detective.

Planning: Location

We have decided that our thriller will be set in an office which the detective works in. This is because in most films, the action and suspense starts in the office of the detective.
At first we had planned on filming in a room at college and set it up to look like an office; however, we then realised that it is difficult to create an office which looks realistic. Therefore, we decided to look for an actual office to set our film in.

Planning: Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our opening. Some of the boxes are blank because we did not manage to take pictures, however we  added description so we know what to film and what type of shot it is.

Planning: The Plot

Our thriller's storyline has two twists in it as it a psychological thriller and we want to keep the audience intrigued and get them thinking about what is going on.

The thriller will be about a detective who is asked to solve a murder case; however, this is where the first twist comes in - The murder has not taken place yet, and will do so in the future. The man who approaches the detective with the case is the victim of the violent attack which takes place and leads him to his death.
The second twist is that the detective has a split personality - she is the murderer as well as the detective. As she is trying to prevent and solve this case, actions which she takes contributes towards the victim's death; but, she does not know this and there is nothing she can do to stop it. Eventually, she decides to kill herself due to the trouble she is causing as she has no control over her other personality which she is hardly aware of.

Planning: Production Schedule

§ Thursday 7th February: Finalise all filming details

§ Saturday 9th February: Film the thriller opening

We have decided to film everything on Saturday, rather than over several days as this would reduce continuity errors.

§ Monday 11th February: Reviewing footages and deciding what needs to be improved or additional ideas to the opening.

§ Thursday 14th February: Re-shooting/extra filming (if needed) or begin editing. 

§ Monday 25th February:  Editing the footages

§ Thursday 28th February: Editing the footages