Location Report

Name of Location: My house

I chose my house because it seemed most convenient, simple and less problematic in terms of asking for permission. Also I can redecorate to my liking and expand on the vision I have of the scene without disrupting order within another person’s household.

 

a problem that has risen is the size of the bedroom however, as of yet i'm still debating whether it won't work or if it adaptable. When filming officially begins i'll be able to determine this and immediatly divert locations to suit the scene.

Address: Brimsdown

Location is also good because all my cast and production team are aware of the residence and live nearby so for travelling purposes it will not be raised as an issue.

Name of location: the cemetery

I chose the cemetery near my house because the whole idea od the cemetery was born originally from passing by this cemetery everyday on my way to and from school.

It emulates all other dream scenes because it exhibits a certain mood which I believe works best for a nightmarish dream state.

Address: Brimsdown (besides Durants Park)

An bonus also for choosing this particular cemetery is that it is located in close proximity to my own residents which makes the comute easier and shorter. Also helps with filming in terms of linking the two scenes with one another.

A problem has been the case of my cast members being weary of walking a graveyard. their fear my complicate filming times (daytime) and also might cause me to either change characters, relocate or constructing my own graveyard.

Casting

For my thriller movie opening I will only need to cast two characters - which are both the main characters in this film.

After watching some  thriller movies I've deduced that a blond victim would play a more vulnerable character - perhaps this is due to the light colour of the hair but it seems to constitute an individual in distress or an individual easily captivated by dangers. Another prospect in filming my protagonist character is in a slightly darker hair colour - brunette this being because possibly the not so bright but still shaded colour reveals an innocent character however, that character when put in a tight spot is willing to fight.

Hence, why I have reached a double tun-drum. I have two candidates for the protagonist character who will be victimised throughout the film.

First I have: Berry (my generous neighbour) the brunette.

Second I have: Shannon (my lovely friend) the blonde.

I will post a toll on my facebook account to resolve this problem and get a character which pleases the audiences needs.

For the opposing character they will be wearing a ski mask hence why choosing someone was plainly simple. However, they did have to be taller than the protagonist herself.

I've chosen: Lubaina (one of many best mates) 

   

Pleriminary Task Editing

Today we went to the CLC again, for the last time, just to finalise our preliminary task editing and hand it in to Mr Riley.

We decided to go with mine - though everyone’s edited task was good. Mine seemed to include all of our desired elements, which were all the shots needed and the editing to show those edits fluidly. Hence, why we decided mine would be put up for evaluation.

Problems?

The first time we attempted filming Leana was the camera-woman and she was unable to work the camera properly due to her inability to distinguish when/if the camera was recording. She also seemed to occasionally collide with the tripod causing it to jog and distort the scene being filmed. All this caused our film to be impractical and rendered it unfit to publish. Hence, why we had to re-film our piece and learn from our mistakes and improve our technique.

Another problem we encountered was on deciding on how to approach the conversation segment of the task. we had difficulty on concluding on a final topic of film which cost us time wise. This caused us to lose focus at times however, and record inappropriate footage which also led us into retaking our pleriminary task. 

Another problem our group encountered was during editing. When it came to piecing together the film we found that we had a missing clip. This clip being between the scenes were the character is entering the room and the scene the character is meeting the other character. This misplaced clip made the construction of fluidity and continuity problematic and challenging to present.

We definitely need to watch out and make sure we included all our frames making sure that they flow swiftly without confusing the audience and appearing misplaced. We also need to remain focused and finish the task before losing sight of the task at hand.

What went well?

During filming we worked well together, everyone was co-operating which made filming easier (on the second try at the pleriminary task). The acting was simple so we made it appear as realistic as possible. The filming was done by Leana, she was able to learn from her mistakes in the previous filming task and used the tripod to restrict herself from shooting shaky frames and unnecessary tilts without colliding with it. She also learned to identify when/if the recording is taking place or not. This all worked together to piece our material to form scenes without fragments such as shaky cameras or inappropriate film to the context.  

What I learnt:
I learnt how to use the new editing software Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I learnt the technical ways to cut and compress film. I also learnt how to use those editing skills to create continuity and fluidity with our mini clip.

From the feedback we will receive for the preliminary task I hope my group and I can learn from it and improve on our filming and editing skills further and this impacting on our own thriller movie openings.

What I liked/disliked
I enjoyed using the mac computers because it was a different experience from the windows xp system we have. I also enjoyed using the Adobe Premiere Pro Software to edit my film - another change from my basic editing software at home (windows movie maker).
I did not enjoy however the missing clip I discovered during editing. It made the hardwork I'd put into my editing seem some how short coming. It lacked what it would have had if it was complete. Though I did componsate and used what I had to the best of my ability.