Emma Phillips Foundation Production: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

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

Filed under by Emma Phillips on 04:12

By constructing this product, I have learnt many things that will, subsequently, benefit me greatly when filming further pieces; in every aspect from filming techniques, to shot types and their effects, as well as factors that make my product look professional (abolition of continuity errors etc). It was of grave importance when filming our particular thriller that we gained the necessary effects required when attempting to illustrate a character’s, through both low and high angled shots.

The professional level of the filming itself was paramount to its success, for example, we had to ensure that all shots were filmed using the tripod or track dolly in order to make sure all shots were smooth as well as adding interest, such as the shots used in the opening credits.

In this shot, the camera moved along a home made track dolly in order to create an interesting shot of the scenery. The effect we put on this shot also helps to create a gloomy atmosphere and therefore adds to the thriller tension needed.

Deciding to use a HD camera benefited our final product, as it gave clarity and a professional finish to our thriller. As well as this, we shot each scene several times and in several different ways to make sure we had plenty of options to use when it came to editing all pieces of filming together. Following the 180 degree rule was also important as it allows the audience to keep track of both location and situation, and despite finding ourselves going against this rule several times, we managed to notice in time and re-shoot that particular piece. Other professional techniques also came into play, as we made sure that pieces of filming equipment we were using were clear of the shots we were filming, like the 180 degree rule however, we noticed and managed to re-shoot in time. Being able to film all of our thriller on the same day was a great achievement, and also meant that we did not have to worry about the weather changing, our actors clothes changing or other such factors, all contributing to continuity errors; which would be noticed by the audience.

During the editing process, both my partner and I learned a lot since filming our preliminary tasks. We were able to discover what works for certain types of filming from transitions, to sounds effects. In the case of the thriller, we chose to keep transitions to “fade to black”, as we felt it was most professional, and “fade to white” when we had inserted a still to act as a “flash” and therefore adding to the dramatic effect aimed to be created. By playing around with other software (in this case, Final Cut), we were able to add an extra professional touch to our thriller, using layers over a panning shot of the victim.

We used “Final Cut” to create the layered we wanted to use as a way to complete our thriller to a very professional standard.

From creating the layers in final cut, the overall result was very successful, showing dominance and a sequence of events.

One thing we found difficult whist editing was ensuring that our thriller was not too long, as we had a lot of footage to use. On the contrary, we also had to put in enough to make sure that our opening made perfect sense, as well as creating the necessary feelings and atmosphere desired by our audience. When importing our music, we had to ensure we had the right section of the song to once more, create a tenser atmosphere, trimming the piece of music down fractions at a time and replaying with the thriller to test that the louder pieces of music came up in time with the piece of film after transitions. This was alike the voice over piece, which had to be cut down and placed to exactly the right point, finishing before the actors began to speak. The overall effect of the voice over would have been affected if it did not finish before the start of the flashback, making this a key element to the dramatic effect.