The 'Tron Legacy' review was a rather interesting one; it had a lot of bright neon type lights in every image which was very eye catching and the quotes were in an unusual but intriguing font. I like the overall repertoire it had going on, the organisation was good and it also had two of the motorbike type vehicles shootong across the double page.
The fact that the colours used were so bright it almost forced the viewer to take a second and third look at the images. Another part of interest was how interesting the text was, it really got me into it and I kept reading on and on. I found that the author had a way with words and made the text seem-less and almost like a conversation.
Something else I like about this review, was how each actor had a section where their picture was in view clearly, and there were questions next to them about how they found filming and what lies ahead in the future for them. This got me interested and I wanted to read more up to the point where research about films they were going to feature in wasn't going to hurt.
I particularly like the font used, it's very faint and thin yet noticeable as the colour grey strangely stood out; this may have been because the only other colours were black and the bright blue and gold. The quotes were also humorous which is always a nice touch.
The first double page is a very large image of a beautifully constructed view of the world in the film, with simply a character in the middle of it, i found that to be very effective and made me want to see more instantly.
All in all I found that this is one of the better reviews out there and if I hadn't already watched the film, it would have definitely made me want to watch it.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Evaluation Process
The evaluation was a long and difficult process. It was a matter of going over everything I had done throughout this coursework and putting that into words I had to express visually and verbally. My evaluation reached a running time of roughly 25 minutes. I did this individually as I was working on my own and found that there were much more difficulties ahead than I had anticipated.
The first one was the voiceover. My first instinct was to write a script of exactly what I was going to say; I was later told that speaking as if having a conversation with the listener was more effective, so I gave it a shot. I found that it was a lot harder as there were much more mistakes and errors but after the time taken that I needed I completed it to a degree of satisfaction.
I felt that the editing was the longest part of the process; because I literally had to sit there and listen to almost an 35-40 minutes worth of audio and cut that down to the most important points, which then came down to the 25 minute mark. This was a long and dare I say it boring part of the evaluation; but it had to be done, and once completed it was a load of my chest and apart of my production.
The first one was the voiceover. My first instinct was to write a script of exactly what I was going to say; I was later told that speaking as if having a conversation with the listener was more effective, so I gave it a shot. I found that it was a lot harder as there were much more mistakes and errors but after the time taken that I needed I completed it to a degree of satisfaction.
I felt that the editing was the longest part of the process; because I literally had to sit there and listen to almost an 35-40 minutes worth of audio and cut that down to the most important points, which then came down to the 25 minute mark. This was a long and dare I say it boring part of the evaluation; but it had to be done, and once completed it was a load of my chest and apart of my production.
Editing Diary 2
Unfortunately with all the deadlines I face I wasn't able to keep up with my diary and therefore have to write it retrospectively. For me editing was a long and thorough process. It took me several weeks to complete with many complications but was very much worth it once completed.
To start off with my rough cut was very basic with minimal effects and add ins. It was straight forward with no complications. This is exactly what my teacher had wanted after the first production didn't meet the expected standards.
So after this I got onto adding in effects, credits and titles. The titles were easy and simple to do. They were fade in and fade out. The soundtrack however was slightly more complicated as there were many different genres to choose from with too little time. In the end it boiled down to three mixed instrumentals which suited the atmosphere of the film.
The effects is what I enjoyed spending the most time on. It was fun to experiment with various effects for multiple scenes but once completed, the film had that extra spark to it that it was once previously missing. The night shot was the most important effect I had to insert during the post production stage; it was the single most important effect throughout the entire film as it was where the shift from outdoor and life being okay turned into getting knocked down and being kidnapped.
At one point I also found myself with a point in the film where a conversation was going for too long. After receiving this information, I had to trim it down with disturbing the continuity. Luckily this was possible as toward the end of the conversation the character was almost stationary and it was a matter of cut and delete after that.
Once I had completed the editing of the film it was a matter of showing my teacher and class to see if they would approve it; I shortly discovered that they had and I was utterly thrilled.
To start off with my rough cut was very basic with minimal effects and add ins. It was straight forward with no complications. This is exactly what my teacher had wanted after the first production didn't meet the expected standards.
So after this I got onto adding in effects, credits and titles. The titles were easy and simple to do. They were fade in and fade out. The soundtrack however was slightly more complicated as there were many different genres to choose from with too little time. In the end it boiled down to three mixed instrumentals which suited the atmosphere of the film.
The effects is what I enjoyed spending the most time on. It was fun to experiment with various effects for multiple scenes but once completed, the film had that extra spark to it that it was once previously missing. The night shot was the most important effect I had to insert during the post production stage; it was the single most important effect throughout the entire film as it was where the shift from outdoor and life being okay turned into getting knocked down and being kidnapped.
At one point I also found myself with a point in the film where a conversation was going for too long. After receiving this information, I had to trim it down with disturbing the continuity. Luckily this was possible as toward the end of the conversation the character was almost stationary and it was a matter of cut and delete after that.
Once I had completed the editing of the film it was a matter of showing my teacher and class to see if they would approve it; I shortly discovered that they had and I was utterly thrilled.
Production Diary 2
Day 1 (All created in one day): I began shooting the film in the early hours of an afternoon on a Saturday. This was achieved by me working on a strict plan in order to achieve the completion of the film within the deadline; yes it was going to be hard but I got through it.
The outdoor scenes were shot in quick succession but with many takes as lines were being mixed up and the camera work was still in progress. However the indoor scene was quite straight forward as far as camera work went. Although with the actual content I had to rethink things based on last minute changes. These were the angles in which the character was viewed from, whether there were going to be zoom ins and zoom outs. Once I had responded to these issues it was pretty much easy going from there.
On the day the whether was a little chilly and the ground wet after a nights rain. This is actually what caused me to finish the filming on the day as, if I left anything to shoot the next day, then the sun may have been out, the water may have evaporated and there would have simply been too many varying factors that would have affected the continuity of the film.
So when I filmed the night shot, I basically experimented with a CCTV angled view. This was a little risky at first as I didn't know what the response was going to be but then as I received feedback, there was a positive vibe towards it.
The ending scene was actually taken straight after the biker had taken the main character. I decided to do this because at the time it was roughly 5 o'clock and it was mid-winter and therefore the sun began to set. I found this to be safer than shooting the night shot and then returning outside with a whole new mood toward the weather and light. This would again have affected the continuity side of filming.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Age Certificate
I decided to give my film an age certificate of 12A due to it not including any extreme violence, explicit scenes or swearing. It had one action during it's entirety of a man being knocked down which isn't really enough to raise it's age rating.
In fact I felt that because I was able to appeal to a younger audience as much as older ones helped me gain a variation in age and interest; which is an advantage when creating a film such as this. Word of mouth is a powerful action in the world of media and if generated well enough things could take a positive step.
What I had also found was that my film actually followed the steps of the BBFC guidelines on the official website. So I had discovered that this was positive and felt that if the criteria of my film met the professional terms and conditions, then there were going to be no problems.
Titles & Soundtracks
As for titles I went with something quite simple and yet effective. It thought that I needed some special effects and dramatic entrances and exits; I was wrong. All I needed were the credits to fade in and out. I used a plain white format with the font 'BlairMid' and felt that it matched the scene. They were shown from the start while the main character and his children were spending time together. I also thought that it was a perfect time to do it while they were together and some rather peaceful music was playing in the background in order to show the viewer a nice fun family time.
The soundtracks I used were from A program called Garageband on the MacBook Pro's. It was extremely helpful in allowing me to find suitable instrumentals to fit the mood of my film. I found that when mixing the different genres within the program you get combinations that worked perfectly together that wouldn't have worked separately. The most important soundtrack used was during the night shot; it was a sound call 'Disoriented' I figured that it was simply perfect as it was going to give the feel of exactly what it's called; upon the viewer and the character in the film. It was long, calm and even built up at times which also helped as it matched the moments when approached the camera with his outrage.
The Mystery Behind The Unknown CCTV Occupants
The mystery behind the kidnappers is that the viewer has no idea who they are. All you know as the viewer is that the biker was ticked off by his yelling and decided to kidnap him, or it was planned and that you will discover who they are in a sequel yet to be made. You can also get a clue as you look at the viewing box during his entrapment; it shows in the bottom left corner 'EXP. 127'; which can come to mean 'Experiment 127' and this will tell the audience that there were many before him and probably many more to go. This is all a matter of perception and as there is no factual evidence provided, the viewer can look at them as whoever they want it to be.
Film Locations & Shots
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| Exiting The House |
This is the opening shot of the character leaving the house and making a phone call. He walks toward the camera and begins his conversation. The camera will pan slightly in order to keep him in the shot.
I chose to use a long shot, as I felt that this was an appropriate time to show his full appearance in order for the audience to get acquainted with his figure.
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| Having An Important Conversation |
This is the shot that follows of him having a very intense conversation with an associate of his and it doesn't seem to go very well.
I used a high angle shot as it would track him as he left the garden and on his way to his car.
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| The Character Exiting The Premises |
As he continues his conversation he will make his way to the car and discover things aren't always as they seem.
A mid to long shot was used as he begins to walk onto the road and toward the car.
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| The Character Walking Onto The Road |
His conversation begins to get heated and he expresses his frustration in the middle of the road.
As he is doing this he unlocks the car whilst talking on the phone.
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| The conversation reaches climax |
He is discussing with the person on the phone about the predicament he is in and gets very frustrated.
After doing this he realizes that he is getting no where and also gets a call from somebody else; showing his busy lifestyle.
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| Getting knocked down |
This was a very important scene in the film. It's the scene where he is knocked down to the ground by an unknown biker. This is where the balance of peace is disturbed and things take a turn for the worst.
After being knocked down the biker gets off of the bike and walks steadily toward the character and covers his face as he is abducted.
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| Entrapped |
This is the scene where he wakes up in a dark room and the night shot is used to watch his actions.
It is roughly a 2 minutes long and includes him bargaining for freedom and expressing his anger as he discovers that there is a camera watching.
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| Getting outside the boot |
The main character is leaving the boot of his own car as they left him there after releasing him fro the room unconscious.
One may say that it's a sick joke but it showed that the people that took him could do anything and could have done anything but he's can count himself lucky I guess.
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| The ending: of him claiming revenge |
This is the scene where the kidnappers get in touch with him post entrapment and he announces to them that he is going to hunt them down and then disposes of the phone in a rather peculiar manner.
Difficulties I Faced That Were Later Achieved
During the filming of 'Retribution' I hit a lot of road bumps. There were too many variable factors. The main one was filming; I was able to arrange a time where a friend could help me film, which worked well until I discovered the over exposure issue I explained to you. So to arrange another event to film the production from scratch made things a whole lot more difficult and way too close to the deadline. So I had to do extensive planning of exactly how long I would need to film, at what time and specific locations, once I had achieved this and informed my friend again, it wasn't that hard to persuade him. This was only because I went the extra mile, because if I didn't then i would have nothing to convince him with and for all he knew it could have taken weeks.
Another problem I encountered was when I was editing. I found myself doing pretty much 4/5 things simultaneously; I had to edit the film with in a certain time frame, add schedules, plots, scripts and so on to the blog and all within a deadline I wasn't going to meet. I persevered however and discovered when I put my mind to it, I made sure to cancel out all the distractions that had prevented me from working before and it worked to my advantage, and I finally completed everything I needed to.
Another problem I encountered was when I was editing. I found myself doing pretty much 4/5 things simultaneously; I had to edit the film with in a certain time frame, add schedules, plots, scripts and so on to the blog and all within a deadline I wasn't going to meet. I persevered however and discovered when I put my mind to it, I made sure to cancel out all the distractions that had prevented me from working before and it worked to my advantage, and I finally completed everything I needed to.
Creation Of Magazine Review
I used a program on the MacBook Pro called 'InDesign'. It was extremely useful for what I intended to achieve. It had various affects that I used and helped me create something of this magnitude. These included things such as the fonts with in depth shadows, outlining with colours that matched the contour of the mood given off by the review.
It was also very useful as it showed you the two pages together and at once as you edited, which helped me look at the whole image as I edited to let me know what was missing from certain areas of the review. It also gave the bigger picture so that it was very easy to pin point where you wanted to place key features such as the images, title, tagline and release date.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Location Choice
The location choice I picked was for a very specific reason; this was due to the fact of its' isolation and peace on a weekend, It's narrow roads and the fact that the area is private which builds up mystery. It all fits well as there are many variable factors involved; the biker and the car.
The time of day was afternoon to early evening and therefore everything outside was clear and the only distortion during the sequence was through the night shot.
The location was yes, very limited but also very effective as it didn't give the audience more than they can handle and yet kept them attached to the scene at hand.
Props
There weren't many props used throughout the duration of this short film. They were car keys, a mobile phone, and the car itself. It doesn't seem like a lot but once used collaboratively, they gel well together.
The phone was important as he was talking to a person who owed him something and caused him distress, and then the phone call toward the end was also effective.
The car keys showed the audience that he was mature, could drive, had places to be that weren't in walking distance and therefore built up the micro pieces and added to the macro image.
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