Final

For a full quality version on YouTube copy this URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbtGjhhRm_I

rough cut evaluation

This is what people thought about our rough cut of the sequence.

pro's and con's

Effective beginning as there is no visuals, so you can concentrate on the phone conversation. New scene is realistic.
Shots are very long and close viewers attention
voice overs last to long
credits are very effective
black screen draws attention to conversation
logo is very good
production logo slightly unprofessional
but a good length
mystery with political theme
interesting narrative
costumes are good
location fantastic
characters dont have enough characteristics



we learnt that our opening sequence needs improving.
We also learnt that we have the upperhand on other groups, ours is quite blatently better.

Rough Cut

Hello! While i am writing this up luke and oli and putting the final touches into our roughcut due in... half an hour. Our rough cut is our title sequence in order on final cut, it will be good to view online. Once the rough cut has been uploaded we have a number of things left to do. So far our project contains the completely edited phone call, completely edited news report and completely edited 'shifty man' scene. this makes a good foundation for our project and a quality rough cut as this is our filming complete. We do however have things left to do. We have to place our collage in between the phone conversation and filming, we have left this out of our rough cut because we have not as yet gathered all the relevant media ie news reports and pictures of crime scene. Once we have put these in place we will do a final edit of everything to make sure everything is perfect and then make the music. The gaps in the rough cut is where the other media will be placed. Thanks for your time.

Production Logo

Finally... we have created our logo! It has been a long time coming and we have gone classic: 'Long Road Pictures.' It took around a lesson to produce led by Oli with assistance from Andrea. Our label consists of text flying in from the distance, titled long road, the picture of a deserted road is very apt. Here, take a look at some screen prints.

Editing the news report.

From our footage of the news report, we decided to make it looks official and as realistic as possible. For example adding text: the reporters name, and logos of the news company in this case, BBC news.
I researched into existing news reports, and identified what key features they all have. Focusing on BBC reports, they all have the traditional logo and have the reporters name and position. Also they normally have a "live" sign at the top, followed by the name of where the reporter is. And also how the name of the reporter fades out too.

Filming Weekend

The weekend commencing 29th February 2010 was our filming weekend. We designated the Sunday to film as we had only little filming to do. We could fit this filming into one day because we had made detailed plans beforehand (see past blog posts). We knew what we were filming, the script, who played each role, costume, sound and how long each scene would take.
We had planned to film outside the 'Mitre Pub' in Cambridge because it is a bustling landmark in the center in the city, however when we arrived we realised that the people eating inside would make void the claim that this was a crime scene. Therefore we decided to go film at the 'University Arms Hotel' just by the Grand Arcade in town. This location fitted perfectly with the idea that there had been an assassination and it was a crime scene as we filmed in a desolate car park... implying that the public had been cleared from the area.
The first scene we filmed was the news report. Oliver Theunissen took up the role of the news reporter as he had apt clothes on. Instead of wearing a suit he wore a dark smart coat and a jumper with a collared shirt. He also wore black jeans so that it appeared he was wearing dark trousers. We had prepared a script before hand lasting around 60 seconds, which worked perfectly as it lasted indeed around 60 seconds. The actual filming on the other hand took around 22 mintues. This consisted of Oli replaying his script in about 20 different takes. Nevertheless, we got the scene down before the battery went dead and the prolonged filming actually meant we ended up with a perfect cut. There were mistakes, but the reporter had just arrived at the scene and had little time to prepare the actual report. We placed the camera mid shot so that we could see above waist. The frame of the shot was also perfect, we had the window of the lobby on Oli's left hand side and the name 'University Arms' on the right hand side.
The second scene was of me, Callum leaving the hotel door. In this clip we wanted to imply that this character had maybe played a part in the crime. We wanted the character to wear casual clothes, something that someone would wear everyday, but also something concealing. Therefore I chose to wear an outfit I normally would wear for college but include a big coat with a hood, something that would almost hide my identity while at the same time giving away key characteristics of myself. Luke made a close up to mid shot possible by walking with me as I walk out the hotel door and put my hood up. He films me walking away. We bring in a match on action shot by Luke moving to facing me walking from the door of the hotel and then away down the street.

What is a Call Sheet?

What is a call sheet?
A call sheet is chart issued to the cast and crew of a theatrical or film production, listing the production schedule.

What is included?
Typically, in addition to including a schedule, the call sheet also includes a list of contact information for other members of the cast and crew. Call sheets are often issued at the beginning of the week, because schedules change frequently, and trying to plan further ahead can become quite complicated. As a general rule, when a call sheet is assembled, the scheduler assumes that everyone is available at any time, unless specifically informed otherwise.

We decided to make a call sheet for our production, as it will remind us of the details of making the clip.

how the phone conversation went

We decided to separate the background noise after a preliminary practice of the phone conversation. We found that as there was similar background noise in both voice selections, it could make the audience think the characters are meeting, not in a phone conversation.
Character X - based in the refectory to make it appear as if he was in a cafe.
Character Y - based in the library where it is much quieter.
We did this in these settings because: character Y is much higher up in the group so he sounds in authority, however, character X is less in authority therefore, showing that Y is the boss over X.
To make the conversation sound like its a phone call we added a 3-band equalizer, making the frequency high and the Gain low, this made it appear more muffled, sounding like a phone. The other thing we are adding to make it sound more like a phone conversation is a dial tone or drone, which will aid the viewer to know thy are in separate places.

Update.
We found that having separate background noise can make it have little continuity.
The 3-band equalizer muffles the background noise a lot, however, we may have to refilm the section to improve the audio.

Target Audience

Our target audience for our thriller is both male and females aged between 15 - 30. We have chosen to utilise this target audience because we believe they are the most interested age group in thrillers. There is no way that our thriller can have a younger target audience for two reasons: 1. The storyline will be difficult to follow for anyone younger than 15 because it is a crime thriller. The complexity of the storyline will also keep people of 25+ interested and not bore them.
The 15 rating is only used for films shown in cinemas. It is given to films that are best suited to those aged 15 or older.

The Phone Conversation - Update

Today was the first lesson dedicated to filming/producing the planned project. As our title sequence doesn't revolve around actual filmage we devoted todays lesson to recording our phone conversation. We used Callum's Script (see blog post 'Callum's Script' for details). To do this we used my phone which contained the script and then spoke into the camera. Due to time we only managed to record the conversation, not to upload it. We spent so long recording because the conversation needed to be perfect as the phone conversation is an instrumental scene in setting up the storyline. Next lesson (on wednesday) will be devoted to checking the phone conversation, uploading it to garageband, editing the conversation, and then placing it in our final cut project. This should take around 40 minutes to 1 hour to perfect. Depending on time we will then move on to setting out exactly what media we will be using for our collage, and who will be collecting what. The basics for our media are newspaper reports, pictures of inner Cambridge and shifty characters leaving the building and then video clips.

Filming

4.10 Friday 25th - 9am Monday 28th
On this weekend we will film the two video clips.
the first outside a well lit public place and the second of a shift man leaving a shadowy doorway.

Location and Video Clip Pictures

We are using this picture of 'the mitre' pub in cambridge as an example to what our crime scene will look like as the journalist reports in front of it. We will put some police 'do not cross tape' up behind the journalist to give the effect that this is a real crime scene. The location we are looking for needs to be somewhere in the city, with a lack of people, but looks as though it is a popular destination and has key features of an old building (preferably a dull colour and intricate brick work).



This picture is an example of what location we will be using for the second video clip. 'The mysterious man'. Hopefully the building will be 'in the shadows', especially the door way. It needs to be on the main street however as the male character will leave the building and walk down the street looking suspicious, it would be better to have people walking past our character.



This is a picture of a news report, to show you what we are looking to overlay on our news report clip.

ollie's script

Script
The phone call will begin with the drone of a telephone, then the noise of dialling, and after two rings, a man with a hard, deep, authority voice. The man who answers sounds less in authority, but still hard and tense.

1: Do you know the plan?
2: yes, I’ve seen it and nearly everything is place.
1: When are we starting?
2: I don’t know if this is a great idea?
1: Are you questioning my judgement … ?
2: (quickly interrupting) No sir, I just cant handle prison!
1: your one my best men, nothing will happen. (pause) now, when?
2: It’s down to you boss?
1: I want it done as soon as soon as you have all the materials and he is alone.
2: yes sir, what happens when I’ve finished?
1: A car will be waiting for you at the emergency meeting point and will take you to the airport?
2: where am I going?
1: classified.
2: I’m not allowed to know where I’m going! I cant…
1: (interrupts) we can find someone else to do this!
2. No! no, sorry I’m just tense.
1: I know, but just remember in 3 days you will have $1.5 million!
2: yes, (pause) I need to go.
1: I understand, once everything is ready, FRAME HIM!

Once the phone call has clicked off framed appears on the bottom of the screen.

StoryBoard and Shot List

These are the pictures of our shot list, storyboard for the opening sequence and storyboard for each video clip.

Collage Media

In our collage of media we will have different pictures and newspaper reports as well as video clips.

We will include 4-5 Newspaper Front Page shots
4-5 Pictures of the Outside of the building with 'Police Line' Tape
2 Video clips: 1. 'On scene News report' 2. 'Mysterious Man'

Updated Deadlines

Filming starts Monday 8th February
Carries on week beginning 22nd and 1st March
Monday 8th March Filming must be finished.
Wed 10th March: End of Lesson - Rough cut deadline.
Wed 17th March: End of Lesson - Final cut deadline soundtracks credits etc.
22nd March 9am Interim Writing Deadline
Monday 29th March Final Deadline for evaluation.

Credits: Titles/Names

In chronological order from start to finish of title sequence. Inspired by earlier post describing Title Credits by Luke Butcher.
A Callum Adams(Fades in first) 'And' (Fades in second) Ollie Theunissen Production (Fades in 3rd)
A Luke Butcher Film

Mark Callaway
Julian Tristan
Lauren Hue

Framed

We are not sure whether to use these credits overlaying the black screen of the phone conversation. One thing we are sure of however is that we want to use the title 'Framed' twice. Firstly when the person speaking on the phone finishes the conversation with the word 'Framed.' And again at the very end of the title sequence as the collage is engulfed with a black screen. In the first occasion the word 'Framed' will be small and in the bottom right of the screen whereas the second time the word will be large and take up the majority of the screen. Both times the credits will fade in to keep with the genre of 'Thriller'.

Music notes

Use garageband to conduct a sequence that fits with the opening.
Preferably no music, or quiet string/beat music for when the phone
conversation is playing as this helps keep the concerntration on the conversation.
The music must then become louder as action cuts in, and then faded out to low volume
to allow maximum voice volume for the news correspondent.
mainly violin sounded music throughout the opening to let the audience know
the distrssful situation.

Details of Costumes

We will only need two costumes in our title sequence as we only have two scenes.
The first scene: News Report.
We, as a group, were advised to use a more mature looking actor in the role of news reporter to make it appear more legitimate and realistic but we realise this may be hard to organise. To combat this we are planning to act ourselves and use a suit to not only make us appear older than we actually are but also to comply with the stereotypical dress code of British Television Journalists. A black or Grey suit with tie, coupled with a microphone and piece of paper will leave the audience believing that this news reporter is a seasoned professional.
The second scene: Shifty criminal.
This scene consists of a 15 second shot of a shifty man leaving a building. To create the mysterious effect via costume we are planning to use a big coat and dark clothes. We may possible include a hat for him to pull down as he leaves on just use the big coat for him to pull across and do up as he walks away. So, this actor will wear black shoes, black trousers, a big coat and a dark t-shirt.

Research other similar films

Our opening is sub genre; crime thriller, and as there is little examples which explore crime thriller, our ideas are hard to base on examples as crime often ends pushing into horror thriller.
See below examples which are similar to ours and similar to our sub genre.



Malcolm X uses the idea that we wish to use. The phone call will be backed by a black screen/still picture where credits come in. This enables the audience to concentrate on the phone conversation. This then cuts to music with action. This is similar to how Malcolm X is narrating while it cuts to action.



Cleaner has a opening which uses the villain as the narrator, who states grim things in crime scenes. The opening is set with dark lighting and low angle mysterious shots but is lightened by Samuel L Jackson's voice. The opening is also set with contrapuntal music which lightens the dark setting.

Things to bare in mind:

• Possible contrapuntal music
  
• Dark setting
  
• Little action during part we want audience to concentrate on.
• Narrator telling story when action is being played.
• Mise en scene - Lighting, dark gloomy to put across the dull mood. - Costume, for example suit for news correspondent. - Sound i.e contrapuntal or dark
  
• Be careful not to make opening move to horror.
• verity of camera angles/shots which put across the darkness.
• use transitions which wont make it look tacky, i.e no dissolves. possible mainly fade in/out
• alter the news broadcast to have strip at bottom