We went ahead and followed the storyboard whilst putting in all of our footage for the rushes log just so we know what format to follow before going ahead and editing the short film. Assesing our rushes log, we believe that the following needs to be changed/edited:
Parts on clips need to be trimmed/ cut out as laughing is heard and "Go" can be heard before filming.
Some parts need to cropped and zoomed in as you can have a hard time seeing some scenes.
Scenes need to be made darker to make a scary and unsettling atmosphere.
Extra scenes could be added to make it more impactful. (Ex. A clip of the Lockdown being announced so the audience gets an idea of where it's set in)
Scenes need to be trimmed down.
Background noise that are distracting need to be removed on audio.
This week, we managed to get the following completed:
Focus Group
Edit Log
We created an edit log to go over what edits we made to the video and what times we did them at.
We held a Focus Group to gather general feedback on the short film and what people liked, and what people believe can be improved upon in a video whilst presenting the final video to them.
We also created our edits decision list to show all of the edits we did.
Opening Title. Tells the Viewer what the setting of the Short film is and sets the scene. It introduces the main premise of the short film and gives the viewer an idea of what to expect to come in the duration that they watch the short film. As the short film was created recently and the national lockdown started two years ago, the audience would recognise this time period and remember what happened in it knowing what sort of things to expect when they watch the short film.
AT 0:00-0:06
Name of the Short Film, telling the audience the name of the film and an idea of what could happen in the short movie. We attempted to make the title sequence opening eerie and creepy so that when viewers see it they would know what to expect. We attempted to make it memorable for the viewers with big bold text so that they remember the name of the short film.
AT 0:29-:032
Rolling credits listing everyone that helped in the production of the Short film. This credits everyone and tells people what roll they played in the duration of our short film. If the viewers enjoyed the acting of the short film, they can look up their names and where to find us if they wanted to see what other works we were in and what we were doing. This was primarily used to credit the hard-work done by us and other people who helped to create the short film.
AT 5:48-5:59
Special Graphic Effects
Grunge Green Screen Special effect, Vignette darkened effect, Sharpen and Cam Recorder effect. We used this to start of the short film as ominous and creepy to the viewers. This was created to introduce the audience to the short film and what they would be in for. We attempted to make the opening title sequence eerie and creepy so it was memorable to the audience. The title placed on top of the monitor denotes that the short film will take place in an online setting.
AT 0:29-:032
Colour correction to darken, Vignette and Sharpen. This was used to make the scene go darker. The main character had only one source of light (being her computer screen) making her seem powerless and helpless. The darkness we made surrounding her connotes a lurking danger and makes the viewers feel fearful of what I going to happen to her. She appears scared in the scene so if she was in trouble she would not know where it was coming from or where to go, this keeps the viewers watching so they can find out what happens to her.
AT 1:10- 1:21
Colour glitch, Darken, Earthquake shake, noise and vignette. This was used to create a glitching effect and show the power of the 'Unknown Caller'. As the short film is taking place on Zoom and the Unknown Caller came unvisited, the reveal of them in their room could seem like they were hacking the call so they can access it and threaten the characters. This denotes the Unknown Caller's power and why they should fear them.
AT 1:23-1:25
Vignette/ Colour Darken. This was dissolved in to connote the seriousness of what is happening on the screen. The text 'You Will Die In an hour' dissolves into a vignette effect where the border is darker connoting and implying that the main character feels dread once she finds out this news. This also gets the viewers to pay attention to what is going to happen and how she is in danger.
AT 2:56-3:04
Earthquake shake. This is when 'Friend 1' dies; when she is killed off on camera, we wanted it to shock the viewers and make it scary for them. To connote Friend 1's fear when she was killed off we added a 'shake' effect to denote her struggle to the viewer and also catch them off guard as the screen is suddenly shaking.
AT 3:52-3:54
Earthquake Shake 2. This is our second death scene of 'Friend 2' like Friend 1's death scene, we wanted to show his struggle and catch the viewer's off guard. We connote fear as a scream sound effect is heard and the screen is suddenly shaking as Friend 2 fights for his life and meets his ultimate demise in the end.
AT 4:46-4:47
Blur effect. This was used to make the scene feel uncanny and eerie to the viewers. Two of her friends just died and now she got up and walked out of her room oblivious and neutral to what occurred in front of her. The effect draws the audience's attention to the screen as it is uncanny and weird just like the actions the main character is doing.
AT 5:00-5:02
Transitions
AT 0:01-0:03
We wanted to put emphasise on the word 'Lockdown' as it is a major plot point in a short film. As it dissolves into red (a colour symbolising blood and death) it denotes that death is going to occur in our short film or something bad is going to happen.
Dissolve into red
Flashing. We wanted to catch the viewers off guard and prepare them for what is to occur. Our short film is going to be: uncanny and scary, so we started off with a confusing scene such as the screen flashing so the viewers can guess what is possibly going to happen to this character that they see on screen.
AT 0:10-0:12
Fade out. We used normal fade outs so it was calming and nothing bad was going to happen yet to show what it was like outside: peaceful and quiet, whilst the flashing and the glitching effects inside of the house symbolises that something bad is going to happen.
AT 0:14-0:16
Shake/Glitch transition (created using dissolves and earthquake effect) Again, we wanted to show the power of the 'Unknown Caller' and what they can do. We wanted to startle the viewers with this effect and dennote their power to the viewers showing what they can do (e.g. hack into the zoom call which the characters were present with.)
AT 1:23-1:25
Flashes in so when the unknown caller joins the call. We wanted to introduce the Unknown Caller joining the call. The clip flashes in showing that the Unknown Caller has joined, meaning that the audience should pay attention to what is going to happen.
AT 1:43-1:45
Static Transition to next scene. Due to the static, we wanted it to appear that the Zoom Call was having technical difficulties due to the hacker/ Unknown caller. As the static was present, it was like the Unknown Caller was purposely trying to cut the characters out so that they can't talk to each other.
AT 4:32-4:32
Blur in smoothly goes to the next scene. We wanted the scene to remain: uncanny, weird and naturally calming; the main character's friends just died on the screen and the main character was just calm leaving. This was used to create confusion in the audience as they would ponder why and where the main character was going.
These are the software tools on Final Cut Pro that I had used when creating the video for my short film.
When I selected the clip, it would highlight in a yellow border. I would select clips to move them on the timeline so that they are in the correct place that I want them to be in. With the select tool, it would help me view the properties of the clip and mark certain sections of the clips.
With the trim tool I can cut down the clips so that it only has the certain part of the clip that I want. For example, if I had recorded a scene and didn't have something that I wanted at the end I could use the trim tool so that the part I didn't want was removed.
The position tool helps arrange clips without affecting the timing of other clips. If I wanted to add an extra clip onto the timeline, I could use the positioning tool to put it onto the timeline without it moving all of the other clips. If I hadn't use the positioning tool, the clip I placed on would have moved all of the other clips.
Instead of using the select tool to move a clip or show its properties I used the range selection tool within any clip of the timeline. The range selection tool spans/selects multiple clips. With the range selection tool I could: trim them, mark them with ratings and keywords and modify them in other ways.
I used the blade tool to cut parts of the clips on the timeline down. Instead of using the trim tool, I just highlighted the clip with the blade cursor on the timeline and cut the sections I needed to cut down with it. With trim tool, you could reduce the end of the clip but whilst with the blade tool you could use the blade to cut down the middle of the clip, etc.
With the zoom tool, I used it to change the view so I can visibly view all of the clips at once. I would zoom in so it would help me with cutting down clips, adding transitions, etc. I would zoom out to see how long of the video we had to edit and it would show us all of timeline. With the zoom tool, it helped change the view so no scrolling was required to reach the part I wanted to edit. (zoom out)
With the hand tool, I could use it to scroll the timeline. When a project is playing and I spot a mistake I could use the hand tool tool to scroll back to that scene and make adjustments to it accordingly.
After holding our focus group, we gathered our feedback and analysed it. We analysed it's: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats it had. We also reflect what we could have done as an individual to improve upon.
We evaluated on this feedback and what they said and we went over what we could improve upon.
After finishing our short movie, we held a focus group with people in our target audience. We asked them questions such as: "What do you think went well in the short film", "What could be improved upon in the short film", etc. The audience gave responses about how they felt commenting such as: "The sound effects help create a good atmosphere", "The acting was good and felt realistic", "Conventions from horror movies were made clear,", etc.
It was said that we followed a lot of conventions from Horror/Thriller movies, and a lot of these aspects were made clear when watching the short film. (e.x. dark colour palette, loud noises, etc.)
They also gave feedback on what they believe we could improve upon such as: "An actor looks as if they are reading from a script and sounds quite robotic", 'Some audio should be cut out, etc." Comments regarding how we should practice the short film before recording too was made.
Our main aim with the focus group was to find out what we did well and where we could improve, it was also to find out information on what the liked the best and if we were to create another short film create it surrounding the answers of this focus group.
To improve upon this, I believe that if we were to ever record a short film again we should spend more time practicing and reading the script before going ahead and recording. As we did not spend a lot of time practicing the script more, we ended up forgetting a lot of our lines and some lines delivered came across as a like shaky or robotic sounding.
We also discussed ourselves in the focus group about our personal opinions on what we could improve upon and what we could of added if we could go back and change things. We asked them if they enjoyed the story and if they wanted to ask any general questions about it or more. For example, a member of the focus group asked if they think we could do a continuation of our short film (a sequel) and we gave them our responses. We also continued to talk about what we did on the short film, how we did it and what we liked ourselves.
For my own individual improvement, I believe that there was more I could of done with the editing. With the Zoom call screen, I feel as if I could have given it some more life instead of it being a bland Zoom Call screen. I have the knowledge to be able to add chroma key onto the edit, and if I had enough time I feel as if I should have tried to incorporate with the short film. I could have added more visual effects to make the atmosphere feel eerie and creepy, making the viewers feel unsettled. With this, I believe it would be appealing to the viewers. (For example, adding a grunge border around the screen.)
In the short film, my own acting (Maria's) could have been improved upon. I feel as if I could have practiced the script more with my own lines so I was more confident with it. During the short film, there are parts where I seem unfocused; to improve upon this I believe even when something else is doing their role on screen (as I would still be visible on the short film) I should still try to act along to make it seem more realistic. My voice sounded very shaky and stuttering, despite my character being scared: it still felt very unnatural and it appeared I needed more practice.
During the production, I believe we should of planned out our dates more and followed the production shcedule more closely. We could of had multiple days to shoot our shots for the short film giving us more practice and confidence each time, making the short film be more realistic. Myself and my colleague should have communicated more about what tasks we should have done so that the work production could have been done more efficiently and at a faster pace. This would have vastly improved our short film as if we had completed it more quickly, we would have had more time to look over the short film and fix any mistakes that we had found before exporting it and uploading it onto Youtube.
Our short film is a horror/thriller film. During the short film, we wanted to attempt to make the
atmosphere unsettling before jumping into the death sequences and adding action codes so
that the viewer can feel frightened. To smoothly go to each scene, we faded out the audio so it
can transistion to the next scene. This was done so that we can convey different feelings in each
scene smoothly without the music abruptly cutting off.
We also used 'Adobe Audition' to enhance the audio and make it sound clearer. We also edited
it so it would fit the horror/thriller genre.
To dennote the mood and make the scene feel unsettling, we pitched down the music so it
sounds like that something is not right and make the viewrs feel uneasy. We lowered the pitch
so that the atmosphere feels strange and that the viewers should expect impending doom to
happen to the main characters.
We wanted to use music as a way to dennote the mood in the short film. For example, when we wanted to create a tense atmosphere we cut the music down and speed it up so it draws the viewers attention to the screen. This foreshadows that something bad was going to happen and that the viewers should pay attention of what will happen next.
To catch the viewers by surprise, we added loud sound effects to startle the viewer and catch
them off guard. Typically in horror movies, they feature loud noises that catch the viewer off
guard. We increased the volume on these sound effects such as the 'screaming' when one of
the main characters dies to startle the viewer and catch them off guard so it would possibly
scare them.
To create suspense and tension, we slowed the music down to make the viewers feel unnerved
and creeped out. Making the music slow will dennote that something is not quite possibly right
and that the main characters are going to be in some sort of danger. This will also freak the
viewers out as they worry about what will happen.
To Introduce the Short film, we started off with with a title that sets the scene of our short film.
We used 'fade to colour' so that the title smoothly appears onto the screen and it is satisfying for viewers to watch as it appears onto the screen instead of it just coming onto the screen.
On the subtext, we spilt the clip in half and coloured it red. After doing this, we used a dissolve effect to this text so it would smoothly turn into red. We did this to emphasize the importance of this word on the screen and make it stand out to the viewers as the short film being set in the lockdown plays a huge part in our short film. The red text also feels unsettling and scary, making it seem like something bad is going to happen during the short film.
In horror movies, they're usually dark and gritty. Darkness is commonly interpreted as something as mysterious and creepy, as anything could be lurking in the darkness that could pose as a threat to the main character(s). To make the atmosphere feel unsettling to viewers we used a vignette We also used colour correct to make the clip even darker and to make the scene look more darker and threatening to the viewers connoting impending doom.
We used a static transition to catch viewers by surprise and catch them off guard. We used this static transition to cut out what the main character was going to say. We cut it out with this transition to make it seem like the Unknown Caller was working behind the scenes to cut the main character off. We also did this to emphasize the importance of what the main character was about to say, and as it was on a Zoom Call it would seem like the video was buffering to the viewers.
To make it seem like it was glitching out and buffering on the call, we added the 'earthquake' effect to make it seem like it was glitching, we also added a vignette effect to make it darker on the screen. We also added a RGB colour effect on the screen to emphasize the glitching. We did this to keep the viewer's attention on the screen and get them wondering why it could possibly be glitching out.
