The Editing Process

The Editing Process

 

The trickiest part of editing was going to be effectively editing the flashbacks because we want them to be rapid yet still understandable. The flashbacks, true to the genre, have to be confusing but not confusing enough to throw an audience. They must evoke enough thought in an audience to make then question the story line and make an attempt to figure out what the flashbacks in indicating towards. We have to be careful not to make the flashbacks too rapid to the point that you cannot actually understand what it happening. A psychological thriller can be easy to do wrong and make an audience too confused and disengage from the film. Therefore, we decided to bring in people that were outside of the group to have a look at our film and see whether they understood, once a brief synopsis was explained, what was going on. The results were mainly positive and the audience did understand. One person said that although the editing being quick paced positively effected the film and made it seem more thrilling, the first flashback needed to be slowed down. So, showing above, that is what we tried to do.

 

One of our targets for this second year film was to make the film actually look like a real film. We felt that in our first year the film seemed very exposed and although it did have many good reasons for this, we felt that the second year we should make it seem a lot more like a film. Above, is us putting a filter on all of the clips to make the film seem a little more grainy. We did so because when you look at professional films, even the indie films, they have a certain physical quality that make it look a lot more professional. We found a filter that makes the film look this way and still makes the film fit in our genre. The filter made the film a lot more gritty and dark, not in a physical sense. But the way the film is lit makes for negative foreboding to the rest of the film, which is something we were intending on doing. So the filter was a success. 

 

 

Deciding on how we would insert the credits on the title sequence seemed difficult. We were torn between inserting them on the actual clips or having a separate clip to put them on. A positive of putting them on the clips themselves would be that there is no split between the title sequence so that it doesn't lose the fluidity and break up from that attention that the audience is meant to be paying from the title sequence. This title sequence is very important as, according to a theory of narrative presented by Bordwell and Thompson, it is the inferred events. This is the section that isn't quite the plot yet but is inferred to the audience and understood but not actually scene. For us this is that the character of Kyle has gone through something that has caused him to be homeless and the Employer to become powerful. These qualities are understood by an audience by inference but not actually stated or obviously presented. 

 

This scene needed a mirrored transition between the character of Kyle and the Employer. We needed to make sure that there wasn't too much jump cuts between the characters and to almost mirror the characters actions and movements. This took a lot of fine cuts and a lot of replays and we needed to make sure that the characters were at the same distance to make sure that it was fluent and would make sense to an audience. We wanted to mirror these 2 characters because they are binary opposites. So, having them in the same situation and mirroring each other would be in interesting thing for an audience to see.

 



Shooting Schedule for 21/20/14

So tommorow we plan to film some shots that we forgot to film whilst doing the main scenes in our film. We plan to film Kyle opening the envelope to find that he's been given a job to do. This shot is crucial otherwise our film wont come together; it wouldn't make sense.

We also need to film Kyle visitng the final house. This will be filmed at my house. The house won't be important, it's the action of exchanging the envelopes that is so this is what we need to capture.

To film we will need:

• Camera
• Tripod
• My House
• Kyle's Costume
• Box with necklace in
• Envelope's
• Money to put in the envelope

Film Poster Research

'Rite' Is a great example of the type of poster we are aiming to produce for out psychological crime thriller.

The layering of the cross in front of the face indicates religion shall be a theme within the film. I think this is a really good idea and may take inspiration when drafting my first design for our poster.

Our films plot surrounds a crucifix necklace being found and is the ultimate symbol for the revengeful act committed in the final stages and so I think I may try to make the necklace the border of the poster, with a similarly placed face within the centre, but behind in layers.

Note the direct gaze of the character in frame. This can put an audience on a personal level, and so the poster can connect directly.

The film name 'RITE' has connotations of the word 'right', a very debated word in religion, as in, 'what is the right thing to do?'.

'The Others' is also a good example of a psychological crime thriller. I am beginning to notice a major theme of posters from the psychological crime thriller genre in that of the use of shadowing. Notice how the only light on the poster comes from the hand held lamp. The black creates a sense of isolation and insecurity.

Her indirect gaze suggests her character is viewing something me as an audience are not. This technique

Getting Ready for the Fight Scene

Getting Ready for the Fight Scene

In order to create a title sequence that was realistic we needed to make sure that The Employer looked as though he had been beaten. We added fake blood to his face to create this effect. Blood was added to his nose to create the effect that it had been broken during the fight and we added blood to his mouth so that he looked ridiculously beaten. Additional bruise make-up was also added to complete the look.

This is the blood trickle up close. We tried to make it look as realistic as possible so that the audience believed that The Employer was hurt so much to plot revenge against Kyle; it needed to be brutal.

Planning and Making the Title Sequence Music

Title Sequence

After discussing what key to use with the Music Technology student we both decided that it would be best to use A minor. We created the music on a music software called Garageband. We went through the different instruments to use and decided which ones I felt would be best to use in the title sequence. I picked instruments i felt were appropriate to use. If they sounded sad, harsh or dramatic i picked them. Here is a list of the instruments i decided on:

We then recorded the string ensemble so that the track had base chords and copy and pasted it so that it was persistent throughout the track.  I decided that it would be best if the track was around 50 seconds so that it could outlast the length of the title sequence.

We then proceeded to do the same with the different instruments:

We created a sound that sounded dramatic and sad that would leave the audience feeling nothing but empathy for Kyle. The final piece was created:

I decided that it would be a good idea to upload the track onto some sort of music archive so that it is available for others to download and that i will be able to get it straight away as and when i need it. I think this is the perfect music track for the title sequence of 'The Employer'.

Research into Title Sequence Music

Research

I have asked a Music Technology student to produce the music for the title sequence in our five minute film. We decided that we would look at some title sequence music from a selection of films to get a basic idea on what kind of sound to create and what would suit the psychological crime thriller we are trying to create. All title sequence music is non-diagetic.

Silence of the Lambs

The music for this film is a classical piece and is made purely from string orchestral instruments to create suspense. It is played in a minor tone to create a sad atmosphere to introduce the film to the audience.  This is something i would like to create because we would like the audience to be on the side of Kyle because they won't know what Kyle did in the past. Although i do feel like this piece of music is too dramatic for our film.

The Sixth Sense

Again, this music is a classical piece involving mostly strings but with added sounds from keys. The occasional cymbal hit was also introduced. The music used is not intrusive to the features involved on the title sequence and is very much a background feature. The classical dramatic music seems to be a theme among thriller films with it's ease of creating suspense.

Pyscho

Yet again, the music for this opening sequence is performed by strings however using a staccato technique. This gives a less than subtle approach in comparison to the previously researched film title sequence's. This might be something i'd like to incorporate into the title sequence but I don't feel like it would be as effective as a minor classical piece.

Shutter Island

This is an orchestral piece that features various different sounds and instruments. A bell like sound was used to create a dripping sounds, a drip that was featured on the footage of the title sequence. Rolling drums were used to create the sound of thunder. Thunder is associated with dark times and this will give the audience the impression that there are dark times to come in the film. The strings section almost creeped in and out of the piece of music creating an eerie ambience.

The Shining

This piece contains mostly brass instruments and has a harsh element to it. This is not something i would like to create it wouldn't match the title sequence of 'The Employer'. Voices are regularly featured throughout that sound like cries for help to embody the audience with a sense of unease which wont need to happen in our film.

In conclusion, I would like to create a classical piece that has an almost sad feeling. The audience can feel empathy whilst watching Kyle because Kyle is the character that needs to be felt most sorry for at the beginning of the film.

Final Title Sequence Music

This is the final music that I have created for the title sequence of 'The Employer' and it can be found here.

Filming Shots From 3/2/14

Filming the Fight Scene

Today we filmed the shots that were to be featured in the flashback shots throughout the film. These shots show that Kyle mugged and beat The Employer when they were younger. The scenes will be edited to look like flashbacks in the film that Kyle will be having. Kyle's journey will take him back to places that will trigger awful memories for him. These are the awful memories and this will become clear at the end of the film.

In the above shots The Employer is getting prepared to be shot after Kyle has beaten him. We added fake blood to his face and some slight bruising so that it was clear that Kyle had beaten him badly.

These last shots show us shooting the actual fight scene. We needed to be careful whilst filming to make sure that no one got hurt; the fighting needed to look as realistic as possible because we needed the audience to believe it. The audience need to believe that Kyle was vicious and nasty and know that he knew what he was doing to The Employer was wrong.

We dressed The Employer in different clothing to the end scene to show that after this fight he grew in power because of the beating. The end scene shows that now The Employer cannot be messed with. Today, we had a successful day of filming!

Shooting Schedule for the 3/2/14

Tomorrow we plan to film the shots for the fight scene that will be featured in Kyle's flashbacks. We would like to get various shots of the fight scene to then use elliptical editing skills we have been taught to create a fast paced action sequence. Which is what a fight scene needs to be otherwise it isn't clear to the audience: If it was slowly edited, they'd be asking 'Are they fighting in slow motion?' Which is not something we'd like them to be thinking.

We plan to shoot from the floor so that a high angled shot is created and then Kyle looks in power and in control of the situation. We'd like to get long shots and medium shots so that there is a variation of different shots for the same scene.

We decided to film the fight scene on the churchyard so that there is a religious element involved in the film.

For filming tomorrow we need:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Kyle's costume
• The Employers outfit
• Fake Blood
• The religious necklace
• A wallet
• Eyeshadow pallet to create a bruised look on The Employer