By: Eugenie MacDonald

DEVELOPMENT FROM PRELIM TO FULL PRODUCT (THRILLER)

PLANNING AND RESEARCH

We researched are target audience for our thriller, because in the prelim we didn’t have a specific audience, therefore we needed to do some more research into what audiences normally watch thrillers.

We found out that 18-35 year olds should be are target audience.

For our thriller storyboard we did some research on it, because in our prelim we didn’t think about the structure properly and we made quick decisions. In the final film we knew it had to be a good story otherwise there would be no improvement.

We created a digital storyboard which presents what the film will be like. The storyboard was detailed included shots types and camera angles that were going to use. Whereas as in the prelim we didn’t go into detail.

THE CAMERA WORK

In our final film we included a lot more close ups because in the prelim we received feedback that there was not enough close ups and it wasn't detailed enough therefore we decided to include close ups in are final film.

In the final film we also used tracking whilst the actress was on the way to her office however in the prelim we didn’t use any tracking this was because we didn’t really know how to track safely.

In the final film we also used panning from a distance to get shots of the scenery, however in the prelim we tried to do panning, but we didn’t do it with a tripod so it was very unsteady and shaky and it didn’t look very good. In the final film when we was panning, we used a tripod so it was much easier.

LIGHT COMPARISON

As we filmed our final film outside and inside we used natural light at the start, where as in our prelim we was in a classroom so we had to use the room light.

The location where we filmed our thriller was in an office and there was around 5 light switches, so we could have used some on and off to have some variation in the lighting, whereas in are prelim we only had 2 lights so it would be either dark or very bright.

SOUND COMPARISON

In our prelim we used music from YouTube and didn’t create it ourselves because we were not that confident with soundtrack pro and we ran out of time. We decided to get a James Bond soundtrack from YouTube.

We improved this in are final film by creating are own sounds with non diegetic sounds and Foley sounds. We used soundtrack pro because we had learned to use it properly. In conjunction with our footage we matched the scene or action with a specific sound for e.g. the knock on doors, and the door opening and closing.

Compared to are prelim we just used diegetic sound even though it was quiet, this didn’t really make are prelim very appealing.

EDITING SKILLS

In our prelim it was pretty basic when it came down to editing, we just selected clips, put them together edited the cuts, however we didn’t use any cross cuts or match cuts even though we tried to it was just a case of that we didn’t have the right camera shots to do it.

In our final film we had loads of footage but as editing took place we it got cut down. We used transitions from each scene and we also used cross cuts and match cuts. In this editing process of our final film we used final cut pro which is the same software we used in the prelim

In the final film we went in to much more detail and included a range of transitions, titles and also the sound.

MISE EN SCENE COMPARISON

In the prelim our mise en scene wasn’t really good as we were not organized and didn’t have a proper location, we wanted a casino setting but instead we used a classroom. Also the costumes of the prelim were not good as we were just wearing normal casual clothes and not a suit or tux which you would expect normal poker players to be wearing.

Compared to are final film we took a lot of consideration into our Mise en scene because we knew where we went wrong and this made it easier. In the final film we needed a good office so we managed to contact an owner of an office and use that for the day as we didn’t want to use a college office as it was too small. The office we used was perfect.

Also for costumes we improved a lot, we got the main character who was a detective to wear a suit which made her look like a detective instead of wearing normal clothe; we needed her too look well dressed.

Final film props were also perfect as they were already in the office so we made it look as real as possible. The one problem we came across was in the the prelim and that is that the sunglasses we were using broke so we had to improvise and still use them but it didn’t really look right. We didn’t have any problems with props in the final film.

THE TITLES

We researched the conventional orders of a typical thriller opening as we did not include titles in are prelim. We done this by the use of You tube and teaching materials on the Candi blog. We found the order and then included titles onto our final film.

In the final film we used a narrative opening where the titles of the film come up whilst the film is still being played, we decided to do this because it creates a flow to the film as we didn’t think stand alone titles would have this effect.

When doing the titles for the final film we had to change the font size and colour, we changed the font size because it didn’t really stand out and we also had to change the colour because at first it was blurred into the background and it was hard to see when receiving are feedback.