Focus Group Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U16lPgl0oww

BLOG REFLECTION WEEK 7

 

BLOG REFLECTION WEEK 7

 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. 

STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES EVALUATION

 

May 12, 2022

STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES EVALUATION

 

Feedback

Qasim

"The scary atmosphere was good, and so was the acting and the shots"

"Some actors could be a little louder at some parts."

Connor

"Some audio was maybe a bit too loud"

"Good and engaging story"

Stacy

Good acting

Inconsistent at the end

--

Based upon the feedback we have received for our short film, it has been praised for the atmosphere of the short film and how it is capable of drawing the viewer's attention to the screen. People commented on how the acting has been well done too. The story of our short film was also praised too and was enjoyable.

A weakness in our short film that was made was that some of the actors weren't loud enough with their speaking parts. If we were to film this again, we would have to prepare ourselves more and practice before going ahead and filming.

Since some audio was stated to be possibly too loud, I believe that could of been the reason why people had a hard time hearing what was being said at some scenes, so if I were to go back and re-edit some bits I would decrease the audio.   

Someone commented that one or two scenes are a bit inconsistent which I believe is true. I forgot to crop/ resize one or two scenes which makes it seem inconsistent with the rest of the short film. If I had to chance to go back to this and had more time, I would transform the screens to make it bigger. 

EDIT LOG

 

BLOG REFLECTION WEEK 6

 

BLOG REFLECTION WEEK 6

 This week, we got the following completed:

• Rushes Log + Video / Edit Notes/ Export Format/ Sound Effects/ Renaming Clips, Rushes log table (Offline Edit) 
• Suitability of coverage 
• Post-Production notes
• Draft Video + Feedback/ Edit Decisions/ Response 
• Final Video/ Feedback/Effects & More Used Evidence and Analysis/ Sound Manipulation 

We had managed to pile all of our footage we got into a rushes log. This is the unedited, raw visual and sound footage from the day's shooting which we must compile before going into the final edit. We made a rushes log table going over all of our clips and which ones we will use and what ones we will discard. 

After compiling everything into the rushes log, we made edit notes on what we will do in the edit and what will go where, and what we will do in each scene. We added this all in the post-production notes and analysed how the editing can be done. 

We assessed how suitable the clips are for the short film and how it would work in terms of being in the Horror/Thriller genre. 

The general draft was made where we made the general edit, and got feedback on it to find out what areas that we could improve upon and make changes base upon this feedback. We also made a list of what edits we will make.

After finishing the draft, we went ahead and made the final video and taking our feedback onboard to improve it. We went over and assessed all the special effects and transitions we used and showed what parts we manipulated the sound. 

FINAL VIDEO/ FEEDBACK/EFFECTS & MORE USED EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS/ SOUND MANIPULATION

 FEEDBACK: STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES EVALUATION : HERE

EVIDENCE:

Titles and Credits 

Opening Title. Tells the Viewer what the setting of the Short film is.

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.

AT  0:29-:032

Rolling credits listing everyone that helped in the production of the Short film.

AT 5:48-5:59

Special Graphic Effects

Grunge Green Screen Special effect, Vignette darkened effect, Sharpen and Cam Recorder effect

AT  0:29-:032

Colour correction to darken, Vignette and Sharpen.

AT 1:10- 1:21

Colour glitch, Darken, Earthquake shake, noise and vignette. 

AT 1:23-1:25

Vignette/ Colour Darken

AT 2:56-3:04

Earthquake shake

AT 3:52-3:54

Earthquake Shake 2 

AT 4:46-4:47

Blur effect 

AT 5:00-5:02

Transitions 

AT 0:01-0:03

Dissolve into red

Flashing 

AT 0:10-0:12

Fade out 

AT 0:14-0:16

Shake/Glitch transition (created using dissolves and earthquake effect)

AT 1:23-1:25

Flashes in so when the unknown caller joins the call. 

AT 1:43-1:45

Static Transition to next scene 

AT 4:32-4:32

Blur in smoothly goes to the next scene

AT 5:02-5:03

Where I manipulated the Sound

4:50- 5:10

At the beginning, I added a 'boom' sound effect and added bass so it sounds loud and impactful, it also catches the viewers attention more and I raised the audio higher so that is loud and brings the viewers attention to the screen.

I also decreased the pitch on the backing track on the audio so that it feels uncanny and unsettling after all of the deaths occurred, making the viewers feel creeped out. 

2:22- 2:35

At this part, I dissolved the audio to make it lower so it could focus on what was being said by the characters and have the heartbeat sound effect sound effect be louder (whilst also still hearing what was said) so that the viewers could focus on what is being said by the character. After the important bit of dialogue was done, I raised the audio up after the dialogue was sense to make it more tense.

3:50-3:54

We made the audio louder to scare and startle the listener whilst watching the short film. This is the death scene of one of our characters, so we added the music and lowered that and increased the volume and pitch on the scream so it's loud and gets the viewers attention. We quickly had a cut of the audio after.

DRAFT VIDEO + FEEDBACK/ EDIT DECISIONS/ RESPONSE

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-o7ECNwmDc

Edit Decisions

• At scenes where we wanted to build up tension, we used suspenseful music to draw the viewers at the edges of their seats to find out what happened next.
• Loud sound effects are used to startle and scare the watches and draw their attention to what is happening. 
• Effects are put onto the clips to make it darker and feel more ominous and unsettling, putting the viewers are unease.
• Slow, deep music is used to create an eerie atmosphere.
• Short cuts are used to keep the viewers attention drawn to the screen.
• Transitions such as flashing and fading to are used to smoothly flow to the next scenes.

Feedback:

Simon

• The music was great at creating atmosphere and building up tension.
• At the end some clips felt oddly placed and unnatural compared to the rest of short film

Rebbeca

• Some clips were not properly cut, you could hear laughing at the end of a clip.
• The transitions were well made and the mood was truly unsettling. 

The music on our draft was commented to help create a good atmosphere for our short film and draw the viewers attention to the screen. They also said that they felt rather unsettled whilst watching the short movie which was what we were aiming to do as our short movie is a Horror/Thriller.

However, all people giving feedback had stated that some parts weren't cut properly as on one of the scenes there were parts that wasn't supposed to remain were still prevalent. In the final edit, I will go back and cut down the part where there is laughing that shouldn't be there. 

EVIDENCE- Post-Production notes

After finishing gathering our clips for the short film, we went over our footage to see how we could make our short film successful and engaging to our audience. As we are creating a Horror/Thriller short movie, we are going to follow these themes to make the short film: scary, unsettling and suspenseful. (You'll have to insert a picture of your rushes log here.) Firstly, we're going to need to gather our footage we had on the rushes log onto our software and cut it down, crop and edit the scenes so we can take a closer look at it so it will be easy o put together. After that is finished, we will have to follow the storyboard and put it together so that it's a story that the viewers can follow.

After we finish putting all of the footage on, we are going to edit our short movie. We are going to add: edits so that the scene appears darker and more unsettling for viewers to watch, loud sound effects so it draws the viewers to the screen, sound effects that you would typically hear on a Zoom call as the main characters are all on one, etc. We are also going to have eerie music to make the atmosphere feel unnerving to the viewers and keep them drawn onto the screen to make them want to find out what happens next. The music is also going to range between slow-paced and fast-paced so it can dennote how it wants the viewers to feel. If slow: the viewers feeling weary and suspenseful and if fast: the viewers on edge and make them want to watch on. 

We are also going to have quick cuts so that it keeps the viewers attention on the screen and so it does not bore them. If we had longer shots, I believe that the viewers would get bored of watching but if we kept our shots fast-paced it would get their eyes constantly on the screen anticipating what will happen next. For example, on the first death scene we want to add cuts inbetween so the death is not abrupt. This will dennote tension and suspense as the viewer is waiting for characters impending death which will ultimately happen

To make scenes seem more mysterious and threatning to the viewer, we will add effects to make scenes darker. For example where we want the scene to seem scary and unnerving we are gooing to add 'vignette' and other various effects to make the scene seem more darker and mysterious so that the atmosphere feels more threatning. This will symbloise that something bad is going to happen.  

EVIDENCE- Suitability of coverage

 

For our short film, we have chosen the 'Horror/Thriller' genre and have gathered footage for this accordingly. Usually denoted in this genre are places that some may typically find scary or unsettling. In our short film, we had chosen to film in a dark alleyway. Typically, an alleyway is symbolic of key themes such as: fear, death, isolation.etc. Whilst viewing this scene, the viewers would feel unsettled and concerned for the main character as they ponder why the main character is in the allewyay by herself and what she could be doing there. The alleway is also dark and gritty, making the atmosphere feel eerie and makes the viewer feel suspenseful of what is possibly going to happen next.

 Our short movie is set in the COVID-19 2020 pandemic; typically, the main characters would not be able to meet in person. To get around this, the main characters get onto a Zoom call so they can all meet up and talk to each other instead of meeting up in real life. We captured this 1 footage on a Zoom call to connote what it was typically like during this time period and so that the viewers could relate as the pandemic happened in recent times and have lived through.

Typically in Horror/Thriller movies, there is usually a threat to the main characters. In our short movie, to symbloise threat we captured footage of a 'killer' that would try to elminate the main characters. The shot of the killer standing behind one of the main characters dennotes how dangerous he is and how much of a threat he is to the main characters. He looks threatning, indicating that he would possibly be after the other characters in the duration of the short film.  

EVIDENCE log time coded rushes- Rushes Log Time Coded Rushes / Edit Notes/ Export Format/ Sound Effects/ Renaming Clips, Rushes log table (Offline Edit)

 

(VIDEO TBA- 45 MINUTES OF FOOTAGE CAPTURED)

RUSHES LOG/OFFLINE EDIT NOTES: 

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. 

Export Format: 

Sound Effects Gathered: 

Renaming clips:

     LOG TIME CODED RUSHES 

Evidence ISSUES AND RISKS (REGULATORY GUIDELINES)

ISSUES AND RISKS (REGULATORY GUIDELINES)

 I believe that our short film would receive a '12' certificate from the BBFC. Quoted from the BBFC: "There may be moderate physical and psychological threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be. Horror sequences should not be frequent or sustained." and  "There may be moderate physical and psychological threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be. Horror sequences should not be frequent or sustained."

In our short movie, elements of horror is feature but however the violence only happens off-screen and is only to implied to have happened and is not seen. The violence is only heard and only happens for a few moments until the scene progresses moving on from what happened. 

Our short film also may contain flashing imagery and loud noises so anyone 12 or under should be be accompanied by an adult whilst watching our short film as some scenes could possibly be distressing. 

We will be using music and sound effects from the internet so that we can speed up the production of our short film. However, if we use copyrighted assets without permission or without a license we could possibly be sued; to avoid this, we are going to use royalty and copyright free materials that are okay for the general public to use. 

An ethical issue that we could face in the production/making of our short film is setting Unrealistic and Conflicting goals. Setting an unrealistic goal for our short film can put pressure on ourselves and the short film production could fall apart or not be completed to the best of our abilities; to solve this, we should take time whilst working on our short film and work together so it can be completed efficiently and to the best of our abilities.