Our Final Piece!

We have finally finished our film opening and this is the result.

Director's Commentary

We were able to look back at our final piece and commentated on top of the video. We spoke about the film opening we wanted to achieve and the sort of atmosphere we wanted to show.
Here is our director's commentary.

Audience Feedback

We got some feedback from our target audience and we were able to take this feedback to change what we needed in our film. It helped us realise how well we did with our final task and make sure that if we needed to make any changes to make the film better.
We managed to film a couple of the audience and asked them a few questions about what they thought of the film and if they thought anything could be improved as well as their general thoughts on the film opening and how well they thought we did.

We also got feedback from our target audience constantly throughout the time we were editing our film. For example, we originally had Ife's shots in black and white and Fiona's shots in colour, this was to show that Ife's shots were more sinister and maybe give the illusion that it was a flash back.

It would then come together at the end in the final shot when both the characters meet and it becomes clear that it isn't a flash back and that they were both happening at the same time. However, we got feedback stating that the film would look much better if we were to have both the scenes in black and white to give it a better effect. We therefore changed this to improve the film. Other feedback we got was that on a whole was that the film was good and that it looked really professional.

Someone else said that they liked the twist on characters and the things that they portray, they thought that the rating of the film was right and that they thought we did well on keeping it all within the 2 minutes. Overall, as a group we thoguth we did really well, considering we thought that we were going to encounter a few problems, such as not being able to fit it in within the 2 minutes or being that the opening didnt turn out boring because it was only of a person walking, however, the soundtrack brought it together and we really liked our final outcome.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From our preliminary task we were able to transfer some of the skills we learnt to our main final piece. This has enabled us to learn from our mistakes as well as to adapt and apply our current skills to our main task to make it the best it can be.

We learnt the basic skills needed to film footage such as using a camera and tripod. Using the tripod was a skill that was essential to getting footage that was steady, because hand held filming is usually the type of filming used in documentaries. Although, we did use this technique when Fiona was walking through the tunnel and when she finally sees Ife lying dead on the floor. This was to show that as Fiona gets closer the event was more personal between the two characters.

We also made sure that we recorded each shot a number of times so that if a certain take did not go the way we planned there was extra footage for us to fall back on. If we did not do extra takes this would be a problem because we would have to make numerous trips back to the location to re-shoot footage. This would have wasted a lot of time that we need to edit and to write the evaluation.

We also learned that it is important to record a few extra seconds of footage before and after the action in the scene, this is so that when it comes to editing we have the ability to cut down the unneeded footage. This is useful because this way we do not have to go edit in the footage from the beginning of the clip, which allows us to add effects that would need extra footage like the fade in fade out. It also allows us to keep with the continuity as extra footage makes it easier to make it follow on.

The editing skills needed for the final task we much more demanding than that of the preliminary task, this is because we used certain effects and titles that were more advanced than the skills use in the preliminary task. The preliminary task aided us with basic knowledge of Final Cut Pro that we expanded on to edit the final task.

Some of the problems to encountered were very minimal and so we over came these pretty easily. Some of the problems are listed below.

The first problem we had noticed with our preliminary task was that the camera wasn't always straight. We therefore made sure that every shot we did was always straight and checked this with the spirit level on the tripod and with doing this all our shots in our main task are straight and not on a slant. We also had problems with capturing the sound on the preliminary task so therefore had to make do with no sound at all. However, on our main task we were able to add a sound track and sound effects on it as well as using the natural sound, this therefore made it more professional and film like.

Another problem we encountered during the preliminary task was the continuity in editing. We found that when it came to editing the door scene it was difficult to make the clips follow on, this was partially because Fiona’s footing changed each time we filmed the door sequence. We avoided this happening in the main task by making sure there was extra footage before and after each clip so that during the editing stage, we could cut it down as to keep the continuity.

It was difficult to get the over the shoulder shot of Caroline and Fiona because there was very little space between them and the table behind them. Although, the location we chose to film the main task was quite spacious so we did not have this problem with the filming.

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

The sort of technologies we have learnt to used are Final Cut Pro, Garage Band, the camera and tripod. Learning to use the camera was pretty simple, filming the footage and capturing it onto Final Cut Pro. Using the tripod was also very easy, we just had to make sure that the spirit level was balanced, and the body of the tripod was fully erect for us to film a successful shot and finally, Final Cut Pro was used for us to edit the different scenes so that the continuity was running throughout the whole of the film. We also used Garage Band for us to come up with a soundtrack for the whole of the film opening.

We learnt how to use Garage band by creating small sounds to help with the sound effect of our film opening. We also found a pre made sound track on here and this fit perfectly with the sound that we were looking for as it had both elements of a calm surrounding as well as anticipation.

It also allowed us to create small clips of sound to help vary up the sound on our film. This helps by giving our soundtrack the fear element, everytime we see parts of Ife's dead body. It leaves more of a mystery and creates more of an atmosphere against our soundtrack. We have therefore been able to achieve the right music we want as we have added the affect we needed to make it fit perfectly with our film.

As a result to using Garage Band, we were able to achieve a good soundtrack that creates the best mood for our film and without this it wouldn't have brought the film together. The only problems that we came across from using Garage Band was that at first we could'nt find the ideal soundtrack for our film, however, evebtually we found the 'Timeless' track and we thought with a bit of tweaking and addition to sound this soundtrack could be very successful.

We were able to put the track we found alongside the natural sound the camera picked up when we were filming and we added separate sound effects we found on Garage Band to make the overall sound for our film. There were a lot of pre-recorded tracks on Garage Band and although it took us a long time to find the one suitable for our individual piece, it was worth it when we found it because it fitted really well with what we had put together for our film. It was similar with the sound effects but by searching through a list of fairly basic effects and applying them to our film where they fitted both visually and alongside the 'Timeless' track, we put together a soundtrack we were happy with.

One of the main technologies we have used is Final Cut Pro. This of which has helped us to edit the whole film opening and allow us to input transitions between each of the two different shots between Ife and Fiona. This has also allowed us to keep the continuity running through the whole of the opening. First we used the ‘Log and Capture’ option to import what we recorded onto Final Cut pro, so that we could edit it. We used different tools on Final Cut Pro such as the blade tool, which allowed us to cut a clip at a precise point, the pen tool, which we used to gradually fade the music out. We used titles from the video transitions effects to state the names related to each part of the work that was done. We created a black and white effect using the 'desaturate' effect on the image control menu of the effects. Using the selection tool allowed us to move around a number of clips at the same time without having to rearrange the order.


Some other technologies that we used, but knew how to use already are ones such as, Google, to help us find images and extra information for our blog and help illustrate what we are trying to explain.

Another technology that we have learnt is how to use blogger.com as we were able to upload video's and pictures which helps give the visual effect of our vision and how we want it to look. It also allowed us to annotate what we wanted to tell within the film opening and the ideas we used.

We also used Youtube to help upload video's of film openings that we are looking at and are comparing our film opening to. It allowed us to do research on other possible film genres and get an idea of what other film openings were like.

To find information about films we wanted to use as examples of films similar to our wn, we used IMDb.com which was useful for finding out almost anything about the film including information about the publishers and directors. We also found stills from the movie and helpful things we could include in out questions.

Using the camera and tripod was crucial to making the film for obvious reasons. One of our first coursework lessons we found our way around the camera, learning how to put the tape in and take it out properly. We learnt how to record footage and attatch the camera to the tripod. Witht he tripod, we ad to make sure it was set up properly everytime we filmed in a different location or even moved the tripod a little or the hot could be crooked as we found out in our preliminary task when the whole film hadn't been straight because we hadn't adjusted the tripod at all. Using the spirit measure we sucessfully filmed our main task correctly so that all shots were striaght.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We were able to address our audience by the genre of the film. We thought that by making a teen drama film, it would attract teenagers to come and watch this. We therefore used a lot of varied shots to imitate the way people think, in a disconnected and disorderly way.

The target audience, aged between 16-24, can relate to the main character Fiona, because she is around the same age. The close up of Fiona’s face would also make it easier for the target audience to relate to the film because this shows them that she is just a normal teenage girl, like girls they would come across in day to day life, rather than a teenage celebrity, who they would more likely idolise and aspire to be like. They can also relate to her mood in the film opening to similar times in their lives as they would have encountered stressful situations that they wanted to escape from. The audience would also be inclined to watch more of this film to find out what happened to Ife, and the reason as to why Fiona was the person to find him.

We also thought about the mise en scene and the fact that it’s by the side of the canal makes it alone and isolated, therefore we get the feeling that the only reason why a teenager would be here would be because they are sad or upset, or even to look for a quiet place to think about things. The target audience would understand our point in this, where as an adult may wonder why a teenager girl is wandering around by the side of the canal by themselves, this would make them think that the girl would get attacked or something bad will happen to her and this is not the point we want to make. However, to make sure that we didn't put this point across we thought about the weather and ensured that we only filmed when it was nice and sunny to show that Fiona is just walking down the side of the canal minding her own business. We therefore didn’t want to use pathetic fallacy to mirror the way she is feeling otherwise this would make Fiona’s scenes look like it’s all doom and gloom, when in fact, we wanted to add that little glimpse of happiness and normality that not everything can and will be edited to look like the typical build up of tension to find the dead body like most Hollywood films are.
We used a black and white effect which could also attract our audience because it makes the film stand out, and would invoke questions from the audience and create a sense of mystery. The audience would wonder why the entire film opening was in black and white, and whether the whole film was either a past memory or was deliberately put in black and white to help portray some points of the film. It also creates the sense that the film opening is retrospective, and the main character is in fact, looking back on previous events.

Also looking at the cross cutting between the two clips, we found that it would create a sense of separation to the audience as they would not know, until the end, that the two events were happening at the same time. This also helps tie in the mysterious atmosphere that is created with the black and white effect.
The soundtrack we used in our film opening portrays the type of reflective mood the audience could relate to, but at the same time creates the sense of an impending climax, which the audience finds out at the end of the opening is Fiona’s discovery of Ife’s body.

Who would be the audience for your main product?

The main target audience we're looking for are people aged between 16-24. We would be particularly aiming this at teens as the genre of the film is a teen drama/murder mystery. It would mainly contain teenagers and would follow a teenager’s life. It would show how a teenager would see and go about things in life as it shows the attitudes and teenagers point of view as well as how they would deal with the mysteries and problems that may occur. Teenagers would be the ideal audience for our film because it deals with emotional health, which BBC research has shown, is one of the main concerns of teenagers. This in turn catches the audience’s attention and creates interest in the rest of our film. The audience could therefore relate to the film and could empathise with the characters the film follows. The teenagers that would be interested in this film would enjoy teen dramas as a whole and would have seen films such as 'Brick'. They would also watch teen TV dramas like 'Skins' in their spare time and would have the same interest in film choice.

This would therefore mean that a wide selection of people, both male and female, would like to come and see this film. It is a new and fresh take on a teenage drama/murder mystery genre film and allows the audience to be open minded as to what they think is happening. Eventually, as the film goes on, it would make more sense to the target audience as they will be able to relate and understand the happenings throughout the whole of the film.

We also found that because our film is very similar to ‘Brick’ and holds the teenage drama similar to ‘Juno’ it would be a good film for the 16 – 24 age range as it appeals more to this age range, as well as the fact that those that enjoyed both ‘Brick’ and ‘Juno’ would also enjoy our film ‘Timeless’.

As the BBFC websites states that a film that is classed as a 15 or over film would be only shown to those of whom are within this age range. They aso state that any film which contains moderate violence and strong language would class the film as a certificate 15 rating. We have therefore chosen to rate our film a 15 as there features a dead body which would be classed as moderate violence. This would deffinatly mean that anyone under the age of 15 should not watch this film as it is too violent for them to see. Moreover, the rest of the film could contain strong language and self harming.