Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

On the day of the shooting, we learnt a lot about techniques with the digital camera. The biggest issue we had was that we would position the camera for a certain shot, but then when we pressed record the framing would change and a lot of what we wanted was missed out. This caused us to do a lot more test shots so that we would know how much we needed to adjust how zoomed in the lens was. We also learned to be cautious when filming handheld shots. We found it very important to have a steady hand when doing these and to keep them to a minimum, as if done badly then they can look quite unprofessional. However, I found that a handheld shot we used looked really effective because we knew we had to keep the camera very still.

 

 

We also learnt a lot about the effectiveness of particular shots, i.e. of different distances. We found that mid shots were useful in showing the girl’s expression clearly while also showing what is happening around her. We used this shot a lot to show the girl getting closer to the room and closer to her death. We staggered these shots with extreme close ups of the photos in the room and the doll’s face which is very useful to show details. This gave the meaning that she was being watched by the doll and that strange things have happened in this house before from looking at the photos. We used only one close up of the girl and I think this made it even more dramatic when it is shown. It occurs as she is shot and it is done to see the reaction and stunned expression of the girl. We did film shots of much greater distance- extreme long shots, long shots, but these dragged out the opening too much so we chose to cut them.

 

We end the opening with a fade to black on the title: ‘The Revelation’. The fade gives time for the viewer to see that the doll’s foot is in shot, so she has been moved but we do not know who by. The slow fade just gives a bit longer for us to look at the title and to think about what had just happened. If this was a full length movie, the fade to black would signify the end of the opening and where the next part of the story would begin- in a different location with new characters.

 

The equipment was something that I learnt more about through the filming. The tripod was used to keep the camera stable and if we wanted to have a panning shot it would help to make it smoother. We used it for this purpose for the shot of the girl seeing the bloody newspaper, and the use of the tripod just made the movement less jagged. The lighting was another thing that was important to consider because we had to ensure that it wouldn’t be too dark so viewers couldn’t see what was happening. We found that the natural light from outside- because it was a bright enough day- was perfect for the tone of the film, because it was quite dark inside but there was enough light to see clearly. When we did use light that was not natural it was when the girl entered the room full of rubbish and strange props and the girl turns the light on, because the room was just too dark to not have the light on. A valuable lesson we learnt from the day of filming and the process of editing was the importance of continuity. We had a problem in filming when we realised we had forgotten to have the actress wearing the bracelet throughout the opening and we had to re-film one or two shots so that it would make sense when the girl is wearing it later. We also ensured that the girl used the same foot on certain steps so there would be no continuity problems with this. In editing, we had to consider which foot the girl had ended on in certain shots so we knew where to start in the next one.

It was important to learn how to upload footage onto a Mac so we could edit it. You have to connect the SD card from the camera into the computer and create an event for it to go into. We could then drag and drop footage into the project for editing. Part of this process was knowing which footage we should use. Some of the framing of shots was wrong so parts were cut out or things were in that we didn’t intend to be. The camera moved when it shouldn’t have and in one of them the tripod could be seen so we could obviously not use it.  Length of shots was important because the opening should have not been too much longer than two minutes. Some of the shots were too long so we had to trim them down and in some cases speed them up slightly so they did not drag on too long, but we would still keep everything that happened in the shot. 

 

I gained a lot of knowledge about various techniques that wecould use on 

iMovie for the editing as well. We found the cross disolves and fades to white very effective for our style of thriller. Below is an example of the cross dissolve transition. We used it to go from the present- the girl we are following- to a parallel storyline of the photos in the room. We chose to use this because it can give the impression of a flashback or memory and it would be interesting for the time we are seeing to change from one to another. I also think that the dissolve caused a really interesting composition. For a moment, the photo of the dead girl appears in the centre of the door that the girl in the dress is coming through. Similar to how these girls wear the same coloured clothes, I feel that this shot is used to foreshadow that this girl is soon to be killed as well.

 

The screenshot below shows an example of when we used a fade to white. It was used many times when we had the flashes of the various photos of the room. It helped to make the flashes more sudden and this was important for what we were trying to- and feel we did- achieve for the editing in this part. We wanted to give the meaning that we are seeing from the girl’s perspective in her last moments of life. Inspired by the shower scene in ‘Psycho’, we wanted to have a contrasting pace by having the very quick flashes of the images to the longer shots after the girl is shot (the close-up of her face, her lying on the floor etc). The very quick cuts make the peak of the shooting more shocking as it builds up to it.  I think that the very short fades to white are similar to the flashing of a camera, making it more punchy and fast-paced.

 

 

 

We had to learn a lot about sound on iMovie so we could cut it so it fit with the right moments, for example when the girl sees blood in the house for the first time - on the newspaper- there is a sudden jolt in the music to show that tension is really starting to rise. It took a while to move this sound into the right place because it was slightly off, coming in too early or late. We found some of our sound effects on the internet and we made some ourselves, so we had to learn how to put them on certain shots and how to shorten them or change the volume. We also muted all of the clips so all that could be heard were the non-diegetic sounds. The only times we used diegetic sound was the door slam, the light switch  and the girl gasping when she is shot because it is obviously the right timing with the reaction and the sounds themselves was of good quality. Non-diegetic we used was the gunshot and the thudding when she enters the room. These were important to add so what was happening would make sense; without the shot you would not know she’d been shot and without the thudding you wouldn’t know why she was shocked. Other non-diegetic sounds were the high-pitched whistling music, the ghostly howling and the heartbeats. These were vital in creating the tension because they sound eerie as they are strange and the heartbeats show how frightened the girl is. 

 

The two screenshots below demonstrate the filter effect we used. It was called ‘Bleach Bypass’. We used it because we felt it was effective in creating an eerie atmosphere. It made most of the colours a lot more dull and shadowy so the redness of the blood more bold and stand out more.  This makes it more of a shock when the girl first sees the newspaper covered in blood from under the door. I am also very happy with the effect because it makes the blood look more realistic. The fake blood we used was very good, but looked slightly too light and the filter effect helped to make it darker, therefore more realistic.

 

The only shot that we did not use the effect for is the shot seen in the picture on the left, above. If we put the effect on this shot then it would have been too dark to see what is going on. We split this shot so as soon as she turns the light on we would then put on the effect. I think that this is quite unusual because as she turns the light on, the room almost seems to get darker. This moment is quite surprising and confusing for the audience which is conventional for the genre because it should not be predictable. Even if it seems like the room has got darker, it works in the film because it is supposed to be nightmarish. Above on the right you can see the shot after the light and the bleach bypass effect have been put on.  

 

I was very pleased with the composition of some of our shots. From our research into other psychological thriller openings we learnt how effective use of golden mean and rules of thirds can be. A very good example of the golden mean is the very first shot of our opening. It is the blood-covered hand going diagonally across the screen, and this fits the golden mean perfectly. I also like that the bracelet is the centre of the way down the screen, making it a more poignant part of the image.

The rule of thirds is used to highlight important parts of a shot. The girl character is usually central, falling into the middle third while the other two are taken up with background. The grid shows where important parts of the shot are, and you can see that the girl’s startled expression is in the middle square.




 

In this shot the girl takes up two thirds while the doll takes up the last one. The doll’s head falls perfectly into the square the middle of the way down. This is a shot that I think looks really good because the doll seems to be watching from the side rather threateningly.

We had to make changes to the structure of the narrative through editing so that the plot would stay exciting to the audience. The plot was quite linear to begin with as it just showed a girl walking towards a house gradually. But by having cuts to images of dead bodies and blood it brought another dynamic to the plot that would make the audience eager to continue. The high pitched sounds that we added also built tension because it sounded quite like screaming or ghost-like howling. Some of the noises gave the idea that there was someone else in the building with the girl.



 

Putting in titles/credits was another thing I learnt about on iMovie. We chose a font that looked quite old-fashioned and formal -Baskerville- which I found fitted in well with parts of the film like the style of the house, the doll and the dress.

Once we were happy and had decided that our opening was complete we had to put it onto a disk and choose a DVD selection menu. When we had done this we had to upload it on to Youtube where we could then put it onto our blogs. Blogger is a website that I was not familiar with before so I had to learn a lot about putting on posts, videos, images and presenting them well. I found Blogger to be an effective tool for research and planning because I could organise our preparation like storyboards and shot lists and it was easy to look back on my thriller research. I think that Wordle was also a really effective way of brainstorming ideas or a list of certain subjects because it is interesting to look at and can have a lot of information.