Evaluation Question 7

looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

When I began this film – I didn’t have the full group with me so was left to my own devices initially.  So I had already been working on the idea when the rest of the group joined me. We all felt that the chase sequence was a good idea as it would be easy to demonstrate match on action because the sequence is the chase round different part of London so whenever we shot some of the chase footage it would be easy to edit into the opening sequence as the audience wil be familiar that this is a chase through London since Laurence begins the action of running at the beginning and continues through the opening until the end. We use the shot/reverse shot effectively at the very end where the cop confronts Laurence in the alley. As for the 180 degree rule – this was not so important during the chase as we move from location to location. We do cross the line briefly when Laurence emerges from the alley but because this is hand held action footage it doesn’t matter because there is only one person in shot.  Nowhere do we cross the line where it matters – such as the end shot/reverse shot. We used diegetic sound including sound from the camera itself with added urban soundscapes and dramtatic music to signify tension and mystery.

During the pre production I decided to use natural daylight as this is the best light source particularly when there is a small or non-existent budget. We also looked at Youtube chase sequences to give us some idea of what to do.  WE chose Locations around Chelsea where I live and which I know well - where I could be sure we would be undisturbed – as I stated before we dressed the cop in anonymous non descript clothes of a neutral grey colour  but dressed Laurence in the sort of clothes appropriate to a young man from his background. Other location characters were primed to walk along the pavement on call of ‘action’ to give a sense of verisimilitude although  because this was a public place during the day some of the ‘extras’ are in fact local people going ab out their daily business.  We also dicussed where we put in the shot/reverse shot, over the shoulder shot, moving shot and fixed shot.

A typical narrative sequence for a thriller following Todorov’s arc involves going from state of equilibrium to disequilibrium and back again. In our narrative sequence we wanted to show the disequilibrium from the start and went for a generic chase scene  that is not specific to its location. It just happens to be in this part of town. WE know something has happened and we know it must be solved. Therefore In our own narrative sequence we decided to leave the sequence open ended to suggest further twists and plot development in a generic way – which is to say the opening sequence reveals nothing specific – it just suggests the thriller genre.

We cast members of our own team from our school as we felt that this was appropriate. The character of Laurence could be one of our class mates and so it was no great leap of imagination to decided to ‘cast to type’! For the older policeman we asked a member of staff who looks the part to play this character. WE didn’t have the budget to cast professional actors and since these parts had no dialogue the only requirement was being able to run.

I made a very simple film. It was my decision right from the start.  We are not experienced writers or film makers and we felt that if we went for something too ‘clever’ we might end up  losing our way. Of course we wanted to give our story a twist but we felt that if we strayed too far from our own experience and abilities we could end up messing the project up. I think violent crime is a worry for young adults and teenagers and something we can imagine easily so in the end we kept it as simple as possible to make it believable. 

There are several digital effects sites where you can download royalty free and copyright free sound effects for a small fee. There are also apps such as garageband where you can create your own sound track that have preset chords which can be put together with other instruments to very easily create music. Also edit suits come with basic sound effects such as Adobe Pro CC. For the music I wanted something sad yet tense – and classical as this film is about a respected instituion – the police – and corruption within where a young man is used as a pawn in a corrupt ‘game’ of kidnap an so this is why I chose the track I did.

Editing, we edited this on a linear system Adobe ProCC, this is a very easy system to use with a linear timeline into which shots can be placed in any order with the audio track beneath it into where music or sound effects are placed to match the action. I found this aspect interesting and enjoyable – it is where all the hardwork comes together and you get to see your film take shape.

Working from a strict brief, generic blueprint, particular time frame. These things help make the film and gave me deadlines and boundaries in which to work.  You might think that these things might be limiting but in fact the reverse is true. A strict brief sets the creative limits for what you can and cannot do, the generic blueprint gives you the genre and road map to follow and the time frame means it must be completed within a set period. So really it’s a question of ticking these things off one by one as you work through the brief.

Once we had made our rough cut  we inserted  titles and credits. Our title was in red on a black background in the middle of our screen in big letters. Red signifies danger, violence and anger and the black background connotes the unknown. These are two themes in the film.  I used adobes title generator to make this.

Mixing diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Our opening sequence starts with diegetic sound – an urban soundscape during the day. We heightened what we had recorded in edit and we also added the soundtrack which is obviously non diegetic to heighten the drama of the scene. 

There wasn’t really a problem with the footage because we used daylight which we felt was the easiest way to ensure there were no lighting problems. Also it is a little obvious to have a kidnap scene at night. It is much more scary to be kidnapped during the day on a London street where everyone can see. As for the sound – that was easy to remedy in edit as I was able to play with the sound levels.