Improvements and How we would achieve it

Improvements and How we would achieve it

A weakness that was mentioned was the volume level as some areas such as the sound effects were considered to be louder than other areas, which ruined its fluency. A mentioned improvement was that we would make sure to check our short film properly before finalising. We would achieve this by establishing from the start areas as key dates. Establishing them as a key date would give them automatic importance which would ensure that we cover these areas eventually. We would need to find a date where we would have enough time for covering these activities. Another improvement that was not originally mentioned was to have a default volume setting for all clips and audios. Whenever we would implement new audios or clips we would make sure to manually compare them to previously implemented to see if they need to be tweaked to be made louder or quieter. We would also mention it as a question for the draft audience feedback viewers, specifically asking if the audio levels were to the right amount and were fluent. If they find a problem with it, this will still give us enough time to make sure it is right for the final edit. This would further ensure whether we have edited our audio levels to a good standard.

Another weakness that was mentioned was that the scenes specifically where the character was running away, looked staged or unrealistic to the audience feedback viewers. A mentioned improvement would be to have a reshoot, however since it could be considered difficult as the locations are very busy. Another improvement would be to have more personnel/actors included for our short film, this way we'd be able to find those with more prior experience and talent. A way in which we would achieve this is to send messages out both physically and digitally that a role for filming is needed. We could spread the messages through our friends and social media, which would spread very quickly and eventually we could potentially gain a few volunteering personnel. If this plan backfires and we did not receive any volunteers, we could also spread the word to our friends or family relatives seeing if they are able to fill out a role in the production of our film.

Another weakness that was mentioned was that the camera shots were too shaky and a bit blurry. This is considered as a weakness as it may cause negative opinions by the audience. An improvement that was mentioned was that we would make sure to properely look at the camera settings before use, we would also film more than one attempt for most shots, to potentially get the best shot we could. A way we could achieve this is through research, we would research into what camera settings would be considered suitable for filming. As we have done research now we have learnt that auto focus was a feature that we did not take advantage of when filming, which could have given us a massive advantage in terms of the quality. Having more than one attempt for a shot would mean that we would be making more shots in total, we would mentally prep our personnel and filming crew to make sure that they are ready for filming and reshooting scenes. A way we would make sure that the shots do not shake as much in the future, is using tripods. Tripods can be applied on to cameras to help keep stability, this would instantly make the quality better as our should would not shake as much anymore. A reason why we did not consider using tripods is for mobile purpose, since some of the locations are far and needs to be travelled to. This meant that we could note carry tripod as we physically did not have any equipment to carry the tripod. In the future we will make sure to keep expense to make sure that we buy equipment such as tripod bags and camera bags, this will helped as be prepared better for travelling and taking shots in other locations.

Evaluation of feedback

One of the points that one of the members of the audience mentioned that they liked is that one of the transitions specifically explaining that it was very smooth. This was the scene where the masked character snaps their finger and the sound effect matches and links well with it.   The next audience member explained that he liked the whole narrative since it was unique and does not fully follow the general conventions of a normal thriller film. Thriller is the genre that we are aiming for with our product. These can both be considered as strengths within our short film, as this means the transitions were perfected and ready. The other point that can be considered as a strength is that we have shown uniqueness in the short film product which could build interest in potential audiences. 

One of the audience members strongly agreed that the short film overall acted out very fluently in terms of visuals and fx. The other audience member explained that because of some of the camera shakiness, it made it a bit less fluent although in terms of fx and transitions everything was seen to them as of good standard. We agree with this, seeing that and making sure our films fx and transitions were not random or making the rest of the scenes awkward. The first point that was made we considered as a strength, this meant that the visual fx were implemented and presented at a good standard, this would appeal better to the audience which would push them to give better opinions on our short film. It would also overall affect their experience with our film. The other point that was made mentioned that the fx was good however due to some of the visuals being shaky or having blur, this made it less fluent. This means that some of the shots that we took were not clear, and when shown to the audience it could create a negative opinion by the audience.

Another point was made by one of the members of the feedback audience. He explained that the timing was right having the total time around 5 minutes which fitted an aspect of what a short film normally is. He also explained that the narrative relates to a student which is something he himself can relate more to as normally one short film's convention is that they are more relatable or realistic to the audience, or based on real life when compared to normal films. We agree with this as we did intend to make the timing right as originally the total time of the short film was around 10 minutes. This point made it clear to us that we have met a convention of the short film being its duration, which is a positive aspect. This is positive as this means when real audiences view our product they will be given a film that accurately applies to its type of film. 

One audience member explained that some of the shots were blurry in the city, which made it unclear of what was happening. They said a possible improvement would be to either find a new location to reshoot those shots or go back to those locations to reshoot those shots. Another issue was that some of the shots were shaking too much, and they suggested that a possible improvement to this would be to have training provided or use a tripod that would give stable movement when holding the camera. Looking at these points it was clear that the feedback was accurate, as some of the shots were blurry, as well as others having being shaken too much. This is a clear drawback to our short film as these 2 aspects make our short film's scene less appealing to the audience. This would reduce interest as well as professionality and quality. 

Other than these few weaknesses and improvements, they considered everything else to be easy to follow along and interesting.

Focus group feedback analysis video and tables

Focus Group Feedback Analysis Video

This is the Focus group video that we created after the focus group video. Here we explained what we gathered from the feedback reviewers when they watched out film.

	Areas for development	How the development would have improved your short film
Individual	An area which I could develop in is my acting skills. This is because I have never done acting before. This means that some of the acting skills weren’t on point. I feel like some of scenes looked fake for example ‘running through the tunnel’ this is because it looked like I wasn’t running as if I need to catch him. I feel like some of the shots were blurry which meant that I should have corrected it there on scene, this is because it will be hard for us to go back to them places as there too far away.	It could improved my short film as if I retook the shots it would have looked much more realistic, and not fake. If the shots and scenes looked more realistic it would create more tension in the film. This means that the scenes would be much more enjoyable for the audience as they would want it to be like a proper film with good acting skills. The main character should have thought to them self as they were in the actual shoes of that person.
Group	-As group one improvement that could be made is to have more members included. -Another improvement that could be made is to consider including more than a few shots for each scene. -Another improvement is to have prior training done to the group	This would make the production process a lot more easier as we have more members to complete each task at a time. This could improve the short film as it will give us more time in our schedule to view other areas that may need to be covered in our short film. - -Having more than 1 or 2 shots made on a scene could create the opportunity of us finding a better way to take the shot or to possibly finding a better shot than the current shots we have taken, this would improve our film in terms the quality. - -Having prior training done to the group would prep them for the real production aspect of our project, this could mean that our shots could be made better, acting which would instantly boost the quality of our film.

Focus Group Video

Post production notes

Post Production Notes

After we finished collecting all the footage, we began importing all the footage onto our Macs on final cut pro. The route we used to store and transfer all the footage is through using an SD card which we recorded and saved all our footages on the camera.

Final cut pro is the software that we intend to use for editing all the footages and making our rushes video, draft and final edit.

After transferring all the footage, we began making our first project which is a rushes log. The rushes log contains all the unedited footage including the blooper scenes. Most of the scenes will not be in order in this step, it is just The purpose of making the rushes log is to help us decide what scenes would needed as well what scenes would not be needed. This would help as build a foundation to our short film which we can continue to build on later during our draft and final edit. The draft is the first version of the film, I will contain the footages in order with most of the bloopers or unneeded footage removed. It could contain some sound effects and transitions however these aspects have not been fully focused on yet as this is only a draft. The draft can be used to gain audience feedback, this would help later in editing as the audience feedback can help create new opportunities that could be made, that could not be made if we did not receive that feedback. From the audience perspective they'd be able to point out things that may stand out to actual audiences which means their opinions could be considered as value to the editing production as it gives accuracy on key areas that would possibly need to be focussed on.

Focus Group Feedback Analysis Task allocation

Focus group questions

Focus Group Question

What do you like about the film?

Does our film follow or have similarities with the conventions of short films?

Were the transitions and visual fx fluent?

Did the sound effects fit with what was happening visually?

Was the short film storyline easy to follow along?

Were there any scenes that you did not like or was not clear?

Were the locations used fitting to the storyline?

Is there any improvements that could be made?

Final Edit

Final Edit Short Film

Edit Decisions List

 Edit Decision List

We decided as a group to have the short film start off with sudden happy music, as we agreed between each other that this was an attempt at giving a false atmosphere and pushing audiences to make false predictions thinking the short film would be more joyful. 

It would then fade off when it came near to the suspenseful or suspense driven moments. We also decided to add in something distinctive to show that character is actually reacting to something he heard from within the classroom, which was a few static noises.

We then made the decision to have the suspense build from the moment the character is walking into the classroom. We met the requirement of it being a thriller as we decided as the suspense builds, it would have a sudden dramatic stop as the door sound effect plays. The door sound effects and bell ringing sound effects are all sound effects that we originally planned from the moment of production as we found it impossible to get a visual with clear audio of the door shutting and bell ringing as there was a lot of external noise that we were not allowed to record or input in our short film.

We then decided to have the jumpscare scene sped up to make the masked character seem more abnormal as they are moving at a fast pace. This creates an abnormal or tensed experience for the audience as they did not expect the masked character to be abnormal. We also decided to lower the noise to make a sudden loud sound which would help with the jumpscare as on its own, it would not seem as much of a jumpscare.

We made a decision to add montages into to showcase the setting of where the main character has been randomly teleported to. We used fade in and out animations to make it seem like more of a quick montage of scenery shots.

This is the implementation of the credit scene, we agreed together that it made sense to have a credit scene to both credit the involving roles as well to apply another similarity to the conventions of films and short films

Export Format

After finalising our short film, we had to check over the settings to make sure that it was correct. In order to know whether it was correct, we sourced information from the internet on forums and QnA websites specifically for Final Cut Pro. We also were provided help and support as well as given knowledge from another filming group that had gone through the stage of exporting, for extra measures to make sure what we have put in was right. We made sure the format was Visual and Audio as these are the two information types we need on our short film. We found that H.264 is a type of video code that distributes our short film in HD visuals and audio, which we would need as our product may have some unclear scenes. The chosen resolution is 1920 x 1080, as this resolution would be a resolution that is used by many, this would mean that our product would have more availability. 

Post production Software Production Tools

P3 - Software Productions Tools

These are the various software production tools that were available for use. The first tool is a selection tool in which we used to highlight specific areas that we were gonna perform actions to

When an image is highlighted or selected this is how it would instantly appear as to differ it from other clips.

The Trimming tool can be used to shorten clips without splitting them in half using blade.

This is how the clips look originally

This is how the clip would look shortened using trim. It will highlight the specific area that is being trimmed visually so that the user can easily identify whether they are shortening the right clip.

The positioning tool allows users to create spaces between clips by positioning clips exactly where the pointer is unlike sometimes with the selection tool. While doing so it would create a blank space of a black screen between that selected clip and another clip if it is right next to it

This is the clip before use of positioning tool

 

This is the clip after using the position tool, there is a blank space made after reposition the clip.

The range selection tool is used for selecting a specific range of footage.

This is a clip that can be seen with using the range selection tool.

The blade tool is a tool that can be used for splitting up clips. We normally use blade tool to cut out certain bits out of clips that may be considered as bloopers or unnecessary.

This is a picture of a clip that is split in half. The dotted areas make it clear exactly where it has been split.

The zoom tool allows areas to be zoomed in or zoomed out if it is to hard to edit it in the normal view.

This is how it would look after zoomed in on, the clips images change as it is make more clear what is happening specifically within that clip frame by frame.

The hand tool is a tool that lets you navigate left to right on the timeline with using the scroll, it creates an ease of accessibility for us users.

Graphics and Special effects

Graphics and Special effects

In this picture you can see the effects which can be used in the short film as it could have a transition to go back in time and have an effect to create a more suspense feel to the short film. The edits can add tension in the story and will create more suspense. Within this specific scene where the visual flashes before the next scene, this could give a sudden effect on the audience, it can give the idea and connotation to the audience when viewing that the character has just blinked or has woken up in a different location.

This is an example of the flashback effect. A connotation of using this special effects for this particular scene is to show that the character is entering a dream like state. The way that the fx shows this is through manipulating the the point of view and twisting it and making it look more confusing. 

This is another effect which fades the colour to add more emphasis to the storyline. The denotation of fade to colour makes it so that when the film moves to the next clip rather than having a cut to it slowly fades the previous clip to a black screen before switching to the next scene or it makes the previous scenes gradually increase in transparency while in the moment of changing to the next scene. Fade to color that we added can create a change of mood in the film, this effect is a great way to change the mood from a moment of suspense to a moment of a relaxation.

Here's an example of where the effects are applied and shows where you can add the different effects. 

These are the credits at the end on who done what, which is shown at the end.

Here's another effect which is a flash effect which can give the short film a shock in the scenes, as it could flash to another scene. 

Sound Manipulation

In order to make our short film more fluent, another aspect we attempted to cover was sound manipulation. We edited in this area the different sound effects and sound tracks that needed to be edited in terms of audio level.

This sound effect is of the door closing, however due to there being background noise it made it difficult to insert it without having interruptions disrupting fluency within our short film. We used key frame tool to specifically point at the different spots where the db level should be raised and lowered. With the use of these audio key tools it denotes that many of the tracks that we thought originally were not suitable for the short film, were now made possible for use, with this tool. 

This is also another action that can be made possible using audio key tool. We were able to make a manual fade in for the audio. A possible connotation of using this specifically for a suspense ambience track is to make it so as the student moved closer towards the teachers desk, the louder the ambience got, making it feel more suspenseful to the audience.

This is the picture of the scene where the character walks closer to the bell, at 1:00

Sound track or incidental music

 Sound tracks or Incidental Music

Within these section we have chosen to add in a suspense sound track, this to help play out the credit scene with a serious atmospheric track. We decided that it would not be appealing to the audience if we had the credit scene play without any tracks. In order to make it flow well we made it so that the track plays through a scene and into the credits, meaning that we used the audio track as a way to connect two completely different scenes together.

Within this section we have placed an action themed track which links well with the scene as the character is being chased by the masked character. We used the audio track to help portray a feeling to the audience to make them want to cheer for the escape of the student. The track would play along through a few scenes for a long time as we have found it to link well with many of the follwing scenes in order, however a problem that occurred is that the track had a moment that linked really however in order for us to link that specific scene and the audio track we would need to have the track start off beat with the black screen, which would not be appealing. We came up with a solution to cut out the first bit and repeat so that it could flow like how it used to without having to be moved into an awkward spot.

Audio Levels

Audio Levels

In many areas we have made the decision to edit the audio levels. In this section we have edited the track to make the ambience have a slow rise, this helps create tension from a moment where nothing is currently happening, the slow build up will put the audience in a panic or in a thought of trying to anticipate what will happen next.

Within this section we have made it so the the track of awkward horror music plays through most of the clips, towards the end where the character gets off guard by the masked character the music track slowly fades out.

In both of these edits we have used keyframes which specify at what point where the audio track will either lower its volume or increase its volume by how many decibels, this can help with fading in or out sounds or smoothly transitioning out of each scene's audio.

Within this scene we have used keyframes to both fade in and out volumes on the audio track of the clip. This is so that we could specifically have the audio play where it is need and mute out at the points where audios would not need to be heard.

Sound effects

Sound Levels

Within our short film there are many points where we have decided to fill in with sound effects. For example in this scene we have inserted footstep sound effects to help bring the feeling of action where both characters are seen running. We've made sure to maintain the sound level of the sound effects well or on similar volume as the sound track and original audio to make sure it is not too quiet or too loud.

Within this another set off sound effects have been placed. Most sound effects appear in a light blue colour however some sound effects may be dark blue due to it being either extracted from our actual recordings or original audios from clips. One of the first sound effects that we have applied and used was originally a piece of audio from the clip section where we filmed the character moving a board game piece. We cut out the particular section where the audio of the piece being placed and emphasised it by increasing the volume. This created a nice effect that would seem satisfying to the viewers. Another sound effect that we have used is the bell ring which we have used in many different spots. The first spot is the moment where the character is at the first point in the classroom pressing the bell, in this moment we have applied a bell ring sound effect to help portray to the audience and show that the bell has been rung. Another bell ring sound we have used was edited using garageband to make it seem off, this bell ring was supposed to be abnormal or different to the rest of the bell rings that could be heard through out the short film to make the audience more interested and focused on the show. We have also used door close sound effect to portray the closing of the door in the beginning of the short film.

Within this section we have implemented a snapchat notification sound effect which we ourselves have recorded using voice recorder equipment. We placed it here to show to the audience that the student received a  message in which they stop to reply to.

Week 11 Task allocation

Evaluate suitability of coverage

Evaluate suitability of coverage

This is an evaluation of suitability of coverage, assessing whether covered the shots that we needed. 

This is a blooper where we're meant to take a shot of the main character waking up. However the camera man took the shot a second early which made it fail. We decided to take the shot again instantly after, as the first shot was a fail. The shot requires no other noises to be taken as well as to have only the character scene in the clip waking up from a deep sleep. The props such as the bag and phone should be included here as they will help make it connect with the previous scene as well as the scenes that could come afterwards.

This is the actual shot where we took what was needed. This shows that we have covered this blooper section as we've instantly made the decision after failing the first shot to retake it. Within this scene the props are properly shown as well as the character actually wakes up on sync with the filming. The audio may contain the cameraman saying however this could be easily edited afterwards and does not require more time to be spent on this scene. After this shot we've decided that this shot would be one of the final shots in the whole short film as the character is waking up seeing the objects in front of him, picks up the bag, phones and tries to walkaway in disbelief. Within this shot the camera would also close up on the board game which shows a piece that was moved, that was not moved previously. 

This scene consists of a character who is wandering around, but is being crept on by a masked figure. The masked figure is showing in the mise en scene to have an abnormal presence as he leans in from the pillar in a mysterious way, staring at the protagonist as they are walking. This could create an unease or tense feeling in the audience as they do not know what to expect from this figure. This figure is show to have abnormal behaviour which could make the audience stress or be creeped out. The figure shows no face throughout the film, his identity remains a secret, the purpose of this was to leave audiences in doubt of who it was behind the mask as well as whether they were human as all the events that were seen in the short film leading up to this point could be seen as to be caused by the clown masked figure. Leaving the audience in question for this would push them in terms of curiosity making them want to find out who it is, which would make them more interested and engaged in the show.

This is a fictional horror character who's name is Jason Vorhees. Within this film the character has shown to always wear their mask and it is never actually shown on film of the actual characters face. This creates mystery and is sort of the aspect that we wanted to head in for our masked figure, as the audience will barely know anything about the character as they watch our short film. This can make the audience question out of interest who or what they may be.

The mise en scene of this scene was perfect as it displayed a setting that we needed. The staging consisted of more grey colours not only in this scene but through out the point of the show where the character is transported. This could create meaning to the audience as it could be viewed that the main character has been shifted to a world with less colour and less appealing to look at. This could also link with the moments where the character is constantly trying to find his way around after randomly appearing in that location but has difficulty. This scene contains footsteps sound effects to help emphasise the scene. This can connote . The sound would be considered as diegetic as it can physically be seen within the scene that the character is running.

Our running scene can link to another example coming from the film Baby Driver. This scene specifically is where the main character runs from the police. The police sounds could be considered as diegetic as they are seen in the background. There are also light footsteps that can be heard from the running, which makes it a diegetic sound as we can see him running. This scene contains music over the background to help make it from the audience point of view more action based and suspenseful. This is also something that we have attempted to implement as we have played music on our running action based scenes. We believe having that sound there would boost the suspense. The fast movement of the camera within the Baby Driver movie scene is also another convention that we had similarities. The character seen in our film contains heavy movement, making the visibility more blurry with these scene to make the scene more action packed.