Question 6What have I learned about

Technologies from the process of making a Film Opening?

TechnologiesBlogThe Blog was a useful tool in the following ways:Post Research – i.e. Audience researchFilm Log – Tracking the actual filming sessionsFeedback – I posted constructive comments on the work to date, in order that the group Blog could be updated and improved. This facilitated collaboration allowing suggestions as to where extra clips or posts might be added.

Here you can see a comment from Andy left on one of my posts for ideas of sound , Allowing us to share our opinions with one another

TechnologiesThe work was filmed principally on a digital hand-held camera, though a tripod was used for shots requiring a steadier hand.The tripod was, apart from the camera, the most vital piece of kit. For example ,when I first filmed the shot where the protagonist picks up the keys just before he leaves the house

I did not use the tripod it was very ‘wobbly’. However when I utilised the tripod the shot was improved as follows:It was clearer, the camera was lowered which allowed a greater depth of fieldThe shot was more professional and individual

Here you can see the picking up of the key shot using the tripod and how steady the camera is.

Special EffectsWe used few special effects. Fade in and out were used when the titles were displayed as this denotes the light going out when you are unconscious and it also blended well with the titles coming towards you.

TechnologiesLightingLighting was a small problem, but a problem nonetheless! This was due to the fact that some of the shots were taken on different days and therefore different light exposure affected the shots. We overcame this effectively and swiftly, achieving a continuous level of lighting by dragging the contrast effect onto the shots that needed to be adjusted then set the levels of contrast so that they matched.

This screen shots shows how we used effects to create a consistent light throughout our opening.

Over coming problems.• We used a non-verbal communication system to indicate when the camera was

operating; the Cameraman counting down from 3 with his fingers. This overcame initial problems with spoiling shots where the actors were unaware that filming was taking place.

• To aid preparedness after our count in we left a further 3 seconds before the action commenced. This meant that all actors were ready and it improved our footage and decreased our re-take percentage considerably.

Creation of TextTo create the text we used Adobe Photoshop. Previously we had selected a font from the internet site ‘Dafont’. We used a text suitable for our teen horror genre but at the same time complimented the content of our film ‘Lurk’SoundWe used sound effects in the opening sequence to emphasise digetic sound, for example ,when the antagonist kicks the protagonist in the face, we took a kicking sound effect, dragged it and placed it on top of the shot. This delivered a more ‘meaty’ and dramatic sound.

Our title Lurk fits well with the horror genre and resembles the title from brick.

• Our production process was very similar to how a film is produced in the sense that it started originally through inspiration. In our case researching successful films in the horror genre and looking at the aspects that made them great films.

• Secondly, we wrote a treatment to initially see the reaction of our ‘employer’, in our case, teachers.

• Finally we had to present a well thought out ‘pitch’ to the class in order to be given the ‘green-light’ and therefore film our opening.

Production process

The pitch we created on prezzi was given the green light first time and contained our treatment and showed background research that had been put into the idea for our opening.