My evaluation

Below is a link to my evaluation presented on a website.

http://toadamb.wix.com/adamburtonevaluation

The final cut of Dog Eat Dog

Below is the final cut of our opening title sequence Dog Eat Dog. 

The Continuity Task

Our task was to create a continuity task which met a designated brief; to present a short narrative involving a series of specified techniques including a match on action and some form of shot reverse shot. The above video is the final product of our mini-project and demonstrates our understanding of various techniques which makes a simple collection of actions such as opening a door and engaging in conversation into something which an audience would be interested in viewing. Personally I think I beneficed from the task because beforehand my knowledge of different shots was decent but my method of using these appropriately at the right time was lacking. Below is a series of screenshots of where we intergraded the brief's requirements and used them in the task.

These two screenshots of out continuity task demonstrate our understanding of the editing technique of a match on action. Personally I think this worked quite well and was done to a decent standard. However it did take a while to get the position of the subject right as we had to make sure that body parts were in correct positions which ensured that continuity was taken in account. Additionally the actual use of the technique draws attention to the action and may be interpreted as a device which is used to build tension and suspense.

Below is another example of where our group compiled with the brief's requirements. We tried to use a shot reverse shot but as there is minimal conversation engaging both subjects, we found it difficult. We did use shot reverse shot however often they included one character speaking and another shot directly placed after, through editing, where it shows his reaction. 

Further audience feedback

As previously mentioned in a blog post I have realised that using our media studies class exclusively for feedback heavily limits the type of feedback we receive so I have decided to create a digital survey. This allows me to paste a link the questionnaire on various social networking sites allowing our group to fully take advantage of the internet. Below is a screenshot of me half way through creating the questionnaire using a website called Survey Monkey. Additional there is a link to the survey.

Survey

Audience feedback session 2

Similar to before we used our media class for a bit of feedback. Since the last showing we have edited the soundtrack and some of the transitions, which we find increases the pace and helps to build tension. Below is the video we recorded of the audience and their opinions on the second cut. To aid the session we gave them three key questions to focus on which we hoped would create better results. I am fully aware that by using the same group of people twice it it limiting the type of feedback we can receive. Since all of us our media students we can point out a lot of technical elements but a second opinion by a group of people who perhaps don't study Media would be beneficial. I plan to use social networks to gather feedback from our own age group.

Key points of criticism 

• The isn't an ident any more.

       The fact that the idents were missing at the beginning is due to an error when coping the title sequence across to be shown. We still plan on using the ones which were present in the last cut.

• The sound effects added, especially the cutting of paper was slightly out of sync. The footsteps which are heard at the end of the opening title sequence  are too loud and it gives the impression that the man is walking in high heels.

      These issues are quite simple to fix as the volumes of the effects can be adjusted in Final Cut before the next showing. Personally I feel that the scissor sound is not going to be suitable as it goes not fit with the visuals however after some adjustment it may be sound better.

• The bottle should have a different label and the amount of liquid should change throughout.

Even though we also find this a problem we have decided to leave it as it would require us going back on location and re shooting some film which we do not have time to do.

• The sound effect of the scissors snipping is too loud at some points and drowns out the music.

We will try and adjust the sound effect so it is not quite so loud however we want it to be noticeable for the audience.

• The time the titles are on the screen is too short and should be viewable for longer.

We are fully aware of this however we feel that keeping a relatively fast pace is in the best interest for our audience as it really solidifies the tone of the opening title sequence.

Points of praise

• The walking section at the end is shorter which ensures that it doesn't linger for too long and bore the audience.
• The transitions are seamless and add to the pace of the whole sequence. 

Further titles analysis

As I have taken the role of researching titling and I plan on adding them to our opening title sequence I did some research comparing different titling techniques and using them to give me some inspiration for our titles. Below is the video I created of me explaining a sample of opening title sequences and my thoughts on each one:

Audience feedback session one

As we have finished the first rough cut of our opening title sequence we needed to show it to an audience which will give us some constructive criticism to improve it. Below is an edited version of the footage we recorded of the audience discussing our film.

Key points of criticism 

• Some sound issues are present during the last scene. Some members of the audience pointed out that the sound and length is not correct as it drags for too long and the raw sound of the traffic could be changed.

          - To combat this we plan to change the length of the ending significantly, possibly involving               jump cuts to make it better. Additionally if we do plan on modifying the sound we could                     simply reduce the volume of the traffic.

• The reflections on the shiny map show the camera and figures which is not intended.

      There is not that much we can do about the reflection without filming. At the moment we do not         plan on refilming but we could alter the video concerning contrast to make it less obvious.

• The shape of the map points was debated as some thought that it should be more methodical however one person argued that it adds the frantic mind set of the detective. In hindsight I agree that a little more thought should have gone into it and research should have been done by myself before filming.

      Like the above point it is a critical filming issue and would require us to reconstruct the board and reshoot. Personally I agree with the person who liked the organisation of the pictures as it does indeed reflect the detective's mind.

• The titles were heavily critiqued which is something I expected as it was my first time on Final Cut Pro editing. Even though I used a typical order I made the mistake of putting 'music William Tomsett' which is not correct. Also the font of the text does not go with the opening title sequence. Lastly a small spelling error was present.

       This problem is quite easy to fix as it is a matter of editing the titles. I will let Aidan have a look and help to make the titles look better and more professional.

• The ident was also brought up and the issue of the penguin was focused on. The word 'cutise' was used on many occasions to describe the whole ident. It was argued that this did not fit the sequence as it directly contrasted key themes.  

Points of praise 

• The fact that we deliberately made sure the subject's face is not on show appealed to the audience as it created mystery and helped to build tension.
• The shots across the map were pointed out to be particularly effective and this is mainly due to the editing and the post effects added to the film.
• An audience member mentioned the mood which they thought was very well established.

Development of titles

                                                  

After receiving feedback from an audience it has become clear that the titles need to be improved. Due to the fact that I'm not particularly adapt with Final Cut Aidan is going to fine tune the text and make them more appropriate for our opening title sequence.

Sound foleying with Will

Today, to replace the stock sound effects we downloaded from the internet,  we recorded some sound effects using Marantz Dictaphone. Before we went out to record we constructed a list of sounds we needed to record.

• Penguin Patting- For this sound we tried walking on various surfaces but we decided on some concrete on the school site
• Stamp sound- we used an actual stamp for this but when we used it the first time we realised that the surface you stamp on affects the sound. We used a wood to give the sound a nice realistic sound.
• Typewriter sound - As of yet we haven't recorded a sound for this. We are undecided over the fact that we could use the e we have currently. The only downside to it is that as we didn't make it we would need to credit the source or look into the copy right issues around the website we downloaded it from
• Laugh - As we are experienced with sound editing software it was very easy to record this sound. Billy simply laughed into the microphone and in post we are going to change the pitch
• Rustling - Even though we do have some digetic rustling in the film, an amplified version would be very useful if we feel the sound is too quiet with the music as well.
• Scissor cutting - This was very simple in theory however it was a little hard to try and replicate the types of cut the subject uses in the film.
• File cabinet - We recorded the sound of us opening and closing a filing cabinet at different speeds to make sure we could sync it up with the film.
• Rustling of files - As well as the rustling we recorded earlier we needed a heavier sound for files being flipped through and exactly what we did.
• Standing up from office chair - At first we used a plastic bench to replicate the sound of the action however it was far too squeaky and we used a office chair to finally get a good sounding sound.
• Foot steps
• Snapping of blue tack - after initially making the list we decided that this was out of place in conjunction with the soundtrack.

Below is a video of all the sounds we recorded in their raw state:

Pete Buckingham and Audience types

Before we expose our third edit to an audience I have realised that it is of vital importance that we know precociously who are our audience is and what type of category they fall into. Typically modern and older noir films are consumed by film fanatics who are passionate about distinct styles within film.
Even though our opening title sequence's genre is noir, it can be argued that crime or thriller fans would also be attracted to our product. Taking this into account, I feel that our audience is quite wide but does include niche groups as well.
Below is a slide share, created by my teacher, displaying the different audience types and how individuals fit into each category.

Ident Reseach

To support Will's work on the ident Aidan did some research on the internet about idents which enable us to keep a professional quality throughout. Below is a link to Aidan's post

Aidan's post

Helping Billy with Penguin Productions

To credit the various sources for a film's production there are various animations and titles before a film. We plan to replicate this with our made up companies to increase credibility and production quality. As a working title we initially used AWA as a team name however as it does not sound professional, I had the idea of using the name 'Penguin Productions' as it uses alliteration to attract potential film partnerships. To increase the appeal Billy decided to animate a penguin across a space which sounded good in theory however we have discovered that it will take a while to do it as each frame needs to be modified within the animation to create  flowing movement. The chosen software Billy is using is Final Cut Pro as it is readily available to us and it will serve as experience for us when we use it again.

Collaborative Sound Testing

Over the past few lesson we have been listening to Will's work which consists of a soundtrack for our opening title sequence. He has gone with a slightly classical approach to the sound and contains lots of different string instruments which help to build tension.

Syncing the sound track: Time line

To enable us to sync sound effects and music Aidan created a time line which consists of what happens during our opening title sequence. This has proven to be very useful for Billy as he can adjust the music to be in time with the visuals which helps to create a fast pace:

0:00:00 - OTS begins 

0:08:21 - Adam sits down 

0:12:11 - cross dissolve to second shot begins 

0:14:04 - Cross dissolve to second shot ends 

0:15:15 - cross dissolve to third shot begins 

0:16:15 - cross dissolve to third shot ends 

0:17:24 - cigarette is placed in ash tray 

0:19:06 - cross dissolve to fourth shot begins 

0:19:22 - cross dissolve to fourth shot ends 

0:23:22 - cross dissolve to fifth shot begins 

0:24:09 - cross dissolve to fifth shot ends 

0:25:10 - cross dissolve to sixth shot begins 

0:26:07 - cross dissolve to sixth shot ends 

0:30:01 - cross dissolve to seventh shot begins 

0:31:01 - cross dissolve to seventh shot ends 

0:33:24 - cross dissolve to eighth shot begins 

0:34:14 - cross dissolve to eighth shot ends 

0:34:24 - cross dissolve to ninth shot begins 

0:36:06 - cross dissolve to tenth shot ends 

0:38:04 - cross dissolve to eleventh shot begins 

0:38:13 - cross dissolve to eleventh shot ends 

0:38:24 - folder blocks screen 

0:40:01 - twelfth shot 

0:40:05 - blue tac ripped 

0:40:18 - thirteenth shot 

0:42:16 - cross dissolve to fourteenth shot begins 

0:44:04 - cross dissolve to fourteenth shot ends 

0:46:06 - fifteenth shot 

0:46:12 - first flash in fifteenth shot 

0:46:23 - second flash in fifteenth shot 

0:47:07 - third flash in fifteenth shot 

0:49:17 - cross dissolve to sixteenth shot begins 

0:50:11 - cross dissolve to sixteenth shot ends 

0:52:13 - cross dissolve to seventeenth shot begins 

0:53:07 - cross dissolve to seventeenth shot ends 

0:57:02 - eighteenth shot 

1:00:05 - nineteenth shot 

1:02:16 - twentieth shot 

1:03:18 - twenty-first shot 

1:04:09 - sticky note placed on board 

1:04:16 - twenty-second shot 

1:05:01 - picture placed on board 

1:05:21 - cross dissolve to twenty-third shot begins 

1:06:17 - cross dissolve to twenty-third shot ends 

1:10:03 - cross dissolve to twenty-fourth shot begins 

1:11:01 - cross dissolve to twenty-fourth shot ends 

1:11:10 - Adam stands off chair 

1:15:05 - twenty-fifth shot 

1:28:16 - flash dissolve to twenty-sixth shot 

1:29:03 - twenty sixth shot

1:57:01 - OTS ends

Filming day 2

Today we made sure we had all of the relevant props needed to film the remaining shots including the evidence board. As soon  as we got there we set up the camera and began talking about the shots we wanted to film. Instead of just filming a completed board we decided on filming the subject putting things on the map and drawing lines across linking ideas and leads together. Furthermore we re-filmed some of the earlier film as we had changed the position of the map which would disrupt continuity if left as it was.
The reason why we decided to move the map was to make the lead board more interesting and make use of geological location within the opening title sequence. This will allow the credibility of the board to be increases as it is more realistic of what happens in a real situation.

Replicating lighting

On day one of filming the weather was very cloudy and darkening the scenes we were filming was not a problem however the filming conditions were very different on the second day. Even though we were filming inside the windows leaked lighting and did impact the shots we were filming however by turning the blinds we fixed this. On the second day the lighting was much stronger and lit the room up so much that the lighting differed between the previous days filming and todays. We fixed this by putting large pieces of paper over the windows.

Filming day one

Today we began filming for our opening title sequence at Aidan's mum's work place. Once we arrived we took some time to arrange the set and prepare for a few hours of filming which was going to take place over the day. Since Aidan had previously moved the furniture setting up did not take very long allowing us to start filming promptly.  However after starting we realised we did not have a particular photo we needed. This meant that we would need another day to film however in hindsight I realised that we weren't going to film it in one day anyway so it was good that we could spread it over two days and spend as much time as we thought necessary on different shots.
To film we used mainly one camera however we did have access to another of the same quality. This main camera is the Nikon D2300 which is capable of filming in 1080p as well as making use of the Rode Videomic we attached to it to increase audio quality.

Using such a advanced camera was very useful as it allowed us to control small variables such as light which will impact the final result in a large way. As we want the identity of the detective to remain hidden from the audience we had decided to use shadows to conceal his face however the level of light in the room prevented us from doing this well. By adjusting the shutter speed we could darken scenes and make them more like our desired ones.

As we didn't have all the photos I suggested that we filmed all of the board scenes the next day as this would allow us to film of the shots which involved the prop at once and minimized potential continuity errors which may be in our final product due to the misplacement of photos.

Even though this limited us to mainly desk shots we had an ample amount of props to make the scenes look realistic and entertaining. 

Lastly to make sure we were getting everything we had planned filmed we constantly consulted the storyboard to film as many shots as we could in the time we had on the first day.

A choice of prop

As we were experimenting with filming today we decided on using the bought cigarettes I have used previously instead of the ones I made as we were doing close ups and my ones did not look realistic

Editing a production log

Due to organisation issues Billy could not edit two of the production logs which we recorded previously. Even though the process of editing is relatively simple it does take a long time, generally longer than the length of the recording. As I have had previous experience editing audio through a programme called Audacity I edited both of them. Below is a screenshot of me working through the audio making sure the content of the production log is relevant.

Creating the props: Bottle and Sissors

On the storyboard we have a shot planned which involves a pair of scissors. Even though we could use the pair of scissors at the location I feel that we need a pair which have large blades to really emphasize the sexual imagery attached to the shot. Additionally larger blades allows for a much longer pan over them.
Even though we discussed using a bottle of Jack Daniels I do not have access to it therefore I am using a empty wine bottle with the sticker taken off. I plan to also use the cap as well to exaggerate the laziness of the detective by crushing it slightly and placing it on the desk we plan to use

Creating the props: cigarette

As we are filming shortly I need to make sure I have all of the props ready as they are critical for filming. As I know roughly where I am going to get the other props I am going to create the cigarette. I based the prop off the instructables website instructions which gave me a good method for creating the prop. Below is a photograph of the final result. Personally I think that they will be okay for shots which don't highlight the prop however as the storyboard does feature a shot which zooms in to the end of the prop so they may be unsuitable.

Instructions I used

Costume preparation

As my role in the production of the opening title sequence involves mise en scene I was responsible for organising costume. As I am going to be playing the detective I am able to use my own clothes for the costume. Below is a picture of the shirt we are going to use. As we are sticking to some conventions of noir we need a shirt which is formal and can be adjusted to look messy. The tie which can be seen in the picture is also going to act as a crucial piece of  costume to project the quintessential stereotype of the antihero. Going by our story board we do not have a lot of shots which include the integrity of the subject so I plan to wear dark jeans in addition to the shirt.

Aidan's Animatic

As director part of Aidan's role is to know how each shot is going to look so he created a animatic using a video game called Garry's Mod, a sandbox in which three dimensional models can be posed. He has used the software on many other occasions and created a very high quality animatic which has and will be proven to be useful for me and Billy. Using such technique allows everyone in the group to be able to visually see the opening title sequence the same way which discourages mistakes due to differences later on.

Aidan's Animatic post

Taking symbolism into account

After analysis of modern opening title sequences we wanted to include some imaginary within ours. Below is one example of an effort made by the group to try and do this. Originally it was my idea of using a pair of scissors in a shot and the rest of the group developed to shot into something which could be interpreted as sexual imagery.