Music Problems

Lucy, Catherine and I had our hearts set on using a Phil Collins song, 'Sussudio' as we felt this was the absolute perfect song to go with our 80's-set film. We were disheartened when we learned that we could not use copyrighted music, and knew we had to find a quick substitute.

Lucy and I spent 3 hours trying to use garage band, a software that we both had little experience using, to try and make an 80's cheesy piece of music, and it's harder than we first thought! We wanted the cheesy music to turn to a sudden dramatic sound at certain moments of the film opening so we noted down the timings in the film of when we wanted the music to change, so that we would know when to put that certain sound in when making the song. Once we got into a creative flow we managed to develop a sound that we felt was acceptable for the film. Although it was not what we had previously hoped to use, we thought the song would be a fine replacement.

However, once we completed the song we exported it to iTunes and realised the song was 2.30 minutes long and we only wanted it to be 1.30. We realised that what we thought was the seconds on garageband, was another measure and we had completely mistaken what it meant! This was disastrous as we knew that we could fix the problem by shortening the song, but this meant that we would need to completely change where we put certain sounds. We would have to completely change the timings!

Although we can certainly fix this problem with a bit of time and effort, it has certainly been the most stressful/problematic part of the production process and we have certainly learned from our mistake. In order to fix this problem Lucy and I are dedicating 2 hours tomorrow (9/03/12) to just sit down and work through it systematically and cut it down fix the timings.

Peer Feedback

On Friday 24th of February our media lesson was dedicated to watching and assessing the other groups film openings. We all had to take notes on what we thought went well and what they could improve on. In my opinion, all the other groups work was done to an excellent standard and I was very impressed by their efforts. The other positive thing about peer assessing was finding out what the others had to say about my groups work. At first I was anxious to receive their feedback as I felt their work was very good that ours perhaps did not look as good compared to theirs. However, it seemed that I over panicked and my group and I received some complimentary comments and constructive criticism. 

What went well:

- Good lighting, makes shots clear.

- Interesting storyline.

- Good use of props, makes things more interesting.

- Nice variety of shots.

- Excellent mise-en-scene.

- Good extreme close ups.

- Good location.

- On the whole smooth editing.

- They liked the 'cheesy 80s' theme.

Criticisms:

- A couple of shots were slightly out focused, but not to the degree that they are unusable.

- Could make the editing more snappy to add more suspense. 

- Some scenes could be shortened.

- Needs music or audio.

Overall, I was pleased with the feedback and very thankful for their kind comments. There were no criticisms made that I thought unfair or that my group hadn't already noticed, therefore there were no shocking surprises. The feedback has helped us continue editing as it helped us decide what to keep, what to cut and what to adapt slightly. Getting an outsider's opinion with fresh eyes helps us consider a couple of things that we may not had noticed before.

My Inspiration

When we decided to have make our film opening a thriller,  a few films came to my mind when thinking about costumes, music and settings. For example, 'American Psycho' is one of my favourite films and has influenced me in my contributions for this project. Although the storyline for my film and the storyline in 'American Psycho' are only connected in that they are focused on an eccentric psychopath, other elements of the film have inspired my film. Above is one of my favourite scenes of the film and particularly the music used tells the audience that the film is set in the 80's and the feel good vibe of the song contrasts with the murder that is taking place on screen. I find this humorous and intriguing to watch. This is why I wanted to use a cheesy 80's pop song in my group's film, to match the 80's style and also to contrast with the narrative.

Another film which is not only a personal favourite, but also an influence on my work is 'Psycho'. To me, 'Psycho' is the greatest thriller film ever made. It seems so simple, yet so elaborative. Even though I know what happens, every time I watch it I feel captivated in the same way I was when I first saw it. Alfred Hitchcock's directing has revolutionised the way films were made and has influenced a number of other great films. The main thing about 'Psycho' that has influenced my film is the simplicity of the story, the majority of it is set in one place, and there are only a few characters in it. The simpleness yet effectiveness is definitely what I want to achieve in my film. Another way in which the film has inspired me is the character 'Norman Bates' who has certainly influenced the creation of the 'stalker' in my film, his obsessive and irrational behaviour is what my group and I have tried to capture in our film.

Editing

At the beginning of the editing process I thought it was going well. We all sat together and decided what we would do with each shot and how we would cut it and put it into the sequence. By the time we had finished our first basic editing (a rough edit which we know we will need to go back and improve) we felt that our opening was okay so far however we noticed a few problems and realized we haddn't thought of everything when planning. Some of the problems were; a lack of variety of shots and some shots are too long and need shortening. When we showed our sequence to our teacher she pointed out a few things that I haddn't noticed, so although it was critical of our work, I know it would help in the long run. Now we are currently working on the points that our teacher had directed us to focus on.

Overall, although I knew editing would not be an easy task, I haddn't anticipated that so many problems would arise. In my opinion, it's not the physical editing itself that causes problems, it's more the errors that we made when filming that causes editing to be tricky. However I do believe that the majority of problems can be dealt with by focusing on how we edit each shot and put it all together.

My response to the group decisions

I am enjoying working in a small group of 3 it means that the communication between us is better and there are less misunderstandings, it also helps that Lucy, Catherine and I are all good friends so we aren't shy around one another or afraid to express our own views.

I am very pleased with our idea I think it is practical, accessable and plausible. I am happy with each role we have assigned each other - Lucy playing the murder victim (Mandy), Myself playing the 'stalker' and Catherine will not be in it but is doing the majority of filming. This way I feel that everyone has an equal amount of responsibility and contributes and equal amount, this keeps everything fair and prevents disputes.

So far I believe everything/everyone is working well and things are going to plan.

Week 3 Planning

We spent this week creating a rough storyboard which I had the majority of control over, though I made sure Lucy and Catherine were on the same wavelength as me to make sure there were no mix ups or disputes. We also did some research into what each character would were, and for me this was straightforward because I am playing the 'stalker' and will be wearing the stereotypical mysterious character clothing (long black coat, black jeans, black shoes and jumper and dark eye makeup). We also decided we would film on Sunday 29th of January.

Week 2 Planning

We continued to brainstorm more ideas of what our opening could be and we all really liked the idea of setting our project in the 80's. Finally we agreed our storyline would focus on a jealous stalker who watches the boy she obsessed over through his frontroom window and she sees him with his girlfriend. She waits for the girlfriend to leave, follows her, and kills her with an axe. We decided who our characters would be and who would play them. In my opinion all our planning so far had gone very well, we all agreed on our idea and felt comfortable enough to question anything. We began story boarding and discussing what props/costumes we would need.