5. How did you attract /address your audience?

to view notes and speech bubbles enlarge the video by clicking on full screen because they do not seem to appear watching them at normal view.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For me to be able to complete my opening sequence, I had to use a wide range of technology which all were useful in different ways.

Video Camera:

Because I had used the schools camera previously for my preliminary task and remake of Footloose I felt very confident using a piece of equipment I had learned to use before so I chose to use a school camera. Also there pictures when watching videoing is much clearer and more defined. This photograph (on the right)  is not the exact camera I used to produce my project however it is very similar with the same components. I also thought this camera was at a great advantage because it was small which made it easier to handle when filming and it made the camera more easier to keep it steady.

Tripod:


I found this piece of equipment very useful when doing my close up shots. This is because if it was hand-held you could see it slightly shaking however using the tripod kept it looking professional and it was steady. It kept everything at the same level however sometimes it was a bit of a problem because with the close up I had to keep checking back on my work to see if the tear shots were at the same level as the beginning when the actor blinks.







Apple Mac Computer:


If I did not have this computer I could not have produced my film at all. It is very important like the Camera and Premiere Pro software because without any of them I could not have shot my footage, transferred it to the computer or edited it. The computer was very easy to use as I am familiar with using them throughout my school years.








Premiere Pro:
As I have already mentioned without this piece of software my film would have been pointless as it would have just stayed on the camera as this is the only way to import it. Also I did all my editing on this software with the lighting and music to give it that extra eerie look. I've learned a lot using this software and how much it benefits at making a proffesional film. i've never known technology like this however it is very beneficial and can change a simple piece of footage into something quite amazing.




     Websites and programmes I used:  Youtube, Blogger, Itunes & Google.

Youtube- youtube was a website which i found very useful. this is because it allowed me to watch opening sequences of films that were similar to the genre i had chosen. the opening sequences i looked at for influences were Dexter, Prom Night, Paranormal Activity and The strangers. They all are in the genre of horror, thriller and mystery. I also used youtube to import my final film aswell as my remake film and preliminary film this was so i could put it on my blog. I also used it for parts of my evaluation e.g. the voice over and the annotations. Youtube played a big role for my work overall and it helped me out a lot. without it i think my work would suffer a lot.

Itunes- Itunes was a software i used to download royalty free music. it helped me listen to the different music i had imported and which one i thought was more appropriate for my film. it also helped import onto premiere pro much easier.

Blogger- Blogger is a website i used to upload my video and a way to show my completed work. This helped me a lot keeping my work in a safe place where there could be no mistakes made of misplaced work.

Google- Google helped me throughout all information i needed to collect or know. for example knowing the different genres of movies I looked at which one appealed to me and what one i preferably wanted to do for my main film. it also helped to get to other website links such as youtube. it is always something everyone relies on for more information on a subject or a guidline and it helped me a lot.

These are screen shots of editing i used on Adobe Premiere Pro. I used a variety of tools and my main effects i used were the additive dissolve, cross dissolve, dip to black and dip to white and I have chosen images where i thought would be appropriate to show where i used the effects.

I also chose an image of how I changed the levels of the music when there was other contrasts of music. e.g. the police radio then it contrasted with a radio report. I also used this because you can see where i have also used dip to black.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task it helped me improve a lot on my camera shots. Within the preliminary task we had to include the shots of match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. I included only one of these shots in my final opening film which was the match on action shot:

the difference of these shots are clearer which i think means i understood and got a grip of how to use the camera. the match on action is a very effective shot to use and i found that it was the best shot to use for my opening sequence because i did not use much dialogue so i found trying to use the 180 degree rule would not work.

                  

I think the preliminary task really helped me develop on my skills eventhough i didn't use all of the shots. I chose a variety but kept them simple because I didn't want it to be too chaotic. but my main shots were P.O.V shot, pan, extreme close ups, match on action. I think if I didn't do the preliminary task I would have struggled with the project a lot. The preliminary task was basically a developer for me as it helped me steady my hand, learn the different shots which can be effective in a film .

By looking at these shots and comparing them I feel i have improved a lot on the focus and understood it a lot more as I had no other help from friends I just done this making sure it was right. Im really happy with the outcome of this shot and the difference and improvements I have made. My overall opening sequence I really enjoyed making this film and it suprisingly turned out to be better than i expected.

How to annotate a youtube video

For a part of my evaluation we had to do annotations showing what we done and what we thought of it and how we wanted it to reflect on the audience. it was quite simple as it was sort of structured out like the premiere pro software and i found it quite useful. The picture above shows annotations of the first shot. the annotations include why i did the shot and how i thought it would affect the audience. in the second annotation the bottom right hand corner i used entered a link to show what influenced me on this shot.


These are the tools i used to help make the annotations and notes:

To begin with the annotations you simply click on annotations and you get a choice of speech bubbles or notes. I mainly used speech bubbles as it points to what you are talking about like a specific shot. when you click on the speech bubbles it pops up and you can adjust the size to it and as you can see from this screen shot you type the text you want to write in the box and if it is too big for the speech bubble just adjust it. below the text box for the speech bubble you can see 3 different small boxes which you click on and they drop down into a larger variety. the first one is the font size how big you want your font and the second it the colour of the font. the third is the colour of the speech bubble. It is best to keep it simple with dark colours because bright colours it can be hard to read this is what i found out when testing out the colours.

This screen shot is the link to watch the video clip that you have produced so once finished and published people can watch it by simply copying and pasting this link or by typing in the name of what you called the video.

Timeline:

This timeline is similar to the premier pro one. you can change the length of the speech bubbles and you can also cut them if they are too long. i think this made it alot easier keeping it within the timing of the shots. it was not difficult to use as if you need to shorten the speech bubble down to a fraction you simply zoomed in using the zoom in and out tool on the left hand side of the timeline and shortened it down that way.

Production Schedule

Production Log

My friend Vicky and I decided to film both our films at the same time as then we didn't have to take out two cameras and our locations are close together. So our production logs are similar as we done ours on the same day:

Thursday 25th November: Because the Male actor Bradley was not available i filmed the shots that were necessary using vicky e.g. the blood dripping down the arm shots and her walking home. Most shots are filmed which I am very happy with. The day has gone very well.

Tuesday 2nd December: Today Bradley was available for filming. Our aims today were to film shots for my film aswell as Vickys. However shots were more time consuming to complete (the blood tear) this was complicated as it kept getting in Bradley's eye. however we got this completed as well as an extra shot of him washing blood of hands however i did not use this in the final film. We also shot the footage where Bradley is looking through the blinds out at Vicky. We didn't do filming shots for Vickys film which i felt bad about however we filmed the scream for her film.

Tuesday 14th December: Filming is nearly completed! with bradley turning up late we decided to do Vickys first as Bradley could stay at mine afterwards to complete the last few shots which only needed him. we completed Vickys shots and afterwards Bradley and I filmed the ending shot of my film. This is was very successful and throughout the days i hadnt been filming i was editing the shots i had.

Asset list for "Soul Harvester"

When it came to choosing props I had to think very careful and in depth of what to use and what would be most appropriate. Also when choosing actors to play the characters I wanted I tried to use people that fitted the description at the time however I couldn't find an middle age man because i was filming this during school and work times.

The list:

Two actors- one male actor as he would be playing the serial killer, i used a school student as i couldnt find a middle age man as I filmed during the week of school hours and general working hours. This was a very important asset because he was the key feature of the film.
- I also had another actress Victoria Rose- she played two people during this film the victim of the opening sequence and she also played the dead girls arm with the dripping blood.

Red food colouring- this was for the blood as it is the closest thing i could get that looked like blood.

bowl of water- this was to catch the blood from it dripping off the girls arm.

Bracelet- this was a key feature in the film because it is something the killer kept from the dead girls arm.

Shovel- was used for the ending shot as the killers killing weapon.

Bag- This is to show she is coming back from school

Costumes and Props:

Killer: Blue shirt, smart trousers (this was to capture his insanity) black shoes.

Girl (victim): Black leggings, Black boots, Orange scarf, Leather jacket and a white hoodie

The Location:

The location was something i focused on trying to get almost perfect because i wanted to be able to capture the shot where the killer is looking through the blinds of the girl coming home. I decided to use my own house because the front bedroom has blinds and it was perfect for this shot. Also I didn't have to depend on using someone elses home for the filming.