Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback


We recorded our class giving us feedback on our final thriller. On the whole, the feedback was really positive. They thought the acting was good, the plot was good and we used a good choice of shots and sounds. The only constructive criticism we received was that the heavy metal was a little too loud and that the white balancing wasn't the best but the off colour worked to our advantage as it added to the mood of the scene. Overall, they found our thriller really enjoyable!

Evaluation Task 7 - What I have learnt in the progression from my preliminary task to the final product

Evaluation Task 7 - What I have learnt in the progression from my preliminary task to the final product

Evaluation Task 6 - How have I used digital technologies in my production?

Evaluation Task 6 - How have I used digital technologies in my production?

Evaluation Task 5 - How have I attracted my target audience?

How have I attracted my target audience

Evaluation task 4: My Target Audience

Evaluation Task 4 : My Target Audience

Interview of my target audience

The above video tells a lot about my target audience. Everyone interviewed in the video is as a high school age, and is around the age of 15-20. The questions were very positive about my idea and tells me that my target audience will enjoy my thriller.

Evaluation Task 3 - Who would distribute my thriller?

Evaluation Task 3 - Who would distribute my thriller? 

Evaluation Task 2 - How does your thriller represent social groups

Evaluation Task 2 - How does your thriller represent social groups

Evaluation Task 1 - Conventions of a Thriller

Evaluation Task 1 - Conventions of a Thriller

Account of editing

Account of Editing

In order to edit our footage, we first had to collect all of the captured film from the school cameras and import them onto Adobe Premiere. Once the clips were imported, we used an option called 'Capture', which allowed us to render the clips fully once, so that they would be readily available whenever we needed them. Once all of the clips were captured, we cut the long footage into subclips to make it easier when editing. We exported the files as a PAL DV Widescreen file (.avi). This render option was the one best suited for the cameras that were used. As a group we stayed behind after school to export all of the footage. This took us a very long time as the file percentage went up by 1 almost every minute, therefore we spent roughly one and a half hours after school waiting for the footage to render fully. I also had to change the contrast of the footage because when filming, the footage was poorly white balanced, therefore, by changing the contrast it eliminated the poor white balancing.

I ended up having to cut off a lot of footage and scenes, as we went over the length limit of the video. Once I was happy with the footage we decided to keep, I had to add black bars to the clips where we filmed with a mobile phone. This is because the school cameras automatically had placed black bars on each side of the clip, and there were no black bars on the footage from the mobile phones, therefore I manually inserted them using Vegas Pro. So far the footage looked good, but it did not have any effects or text. I added the opening credits by adding our names. I then proceeded to add the music that we would use. The songs that we chose were specifically non-copyrighted, and I have double-checked this and confirmed that they were royalty-free. As well as the music, I imported royalty-free machine gun sounds and edited them in to every time there was a shot. I then went online to search for some green screen effects of blood splats and muzzle shots. In order to insert the effects onto the clip, I dragged the effects to the timeline on a new video layer, and I used an effect called 'Chroma Keyer', which allowed to me select the colour of the green-screen so that the green would get removed from the video.

Once it was removed, all the effects would remain on the video clip. Once I imported them onto the clip, I found that the muzzle shots were easy to add in, however the blood splats did not look so firm as the camera was shaky or it slightly moved during some scenes, therefore it would be difficult to implement the effects on the footage. I added a fade at the end, after the basketball player said to the killer, "Is it done?". I rendered the footage again as the same PAL DV Widescreen (.avi) template. That was the editing of the draft we eventually made.

After showing our group, we decided that the blood splats did not look so great, along with a few minor issues. We then decided it would be best if I remove all of the effects of the video, and render and send it to another member of our group. He used a different program to add effects to the video, called 'Adobe After Effects'. He added the muzzle flashes, lighting effects and the blood shots, as well as the text (which had to be altered as we needed to include company names) and fades. He also added an ending title with the name 'Blacksburg 32' and 2 bullet holes plus the audio of gunfire. He rendered the clip using the same template, and it was uploaded to YouTube.

In class, we showed everyone what we had made so far, and requested feedback. The only criticisms we received was that of the last part when the basketball player said "Is it done?" and also the blood effects as they looked too unrealistic. The overall feedback was to remove the part where the basketball player speaks, and also remove all of the blood effects, whilst still keeping the muzzle flashes and lighting.

The two of us then used programs such as 'Skype' and 'Teamviewer' in order to edit the remaining parts of the thriller. We found these programs were extremely helpful as they allowed us to communicate swiftly and efficiently so that we could agree on any changes that were being made. So as a result of the feedback, we removed the dialogue from the basketball player, and removed all of the blood splat effects. The final version was then rendered and uploaded to YouTube.

All together we spent roughly 12 hours on the editing. If we had to edit the footage again, we would ensure that firstly the clips we were using were not shaky, so that effects would be able to be implemented easily. Also, as we used the school cameras, we had a default render extension that had to be used (.avi), thus meaning that the video's quality would only be maximised at 480p, which is not bad, but it could have been better if we rendered it as a (.mp4), as that would allow the video to be viewable at 720p HD quality. I was pleased with the way that our group communicated and edited the footage, and I believe that we did a great job overall.

Account of Shoot Day

Account of Shoot Day

When it came to the shoot day for our thriller we made sure we were well prepared and organised as to what shots we needed to shoot. We had to have two shoot days for the reason that our thriller required filming in a number of locations around a school, some during needed to be filmed during the school day and some did not.  Our first shoot day was the murders from the killer, with the second being the dynamic basketball shots. The reason we had to plan our shoot days ahead is because we needed the actor who is playing the killer to be wearing a suit. With the basketball costume, we rented one from our school so they were always accessible. Also as we weren’t hiring the cameras out of school, we had to hope they were available the days we wanted to film.  The first shoot day didn’t have the best of starts, as we couldn’t find the school technician who is responsible for the school cameras. We tried to begin filming using a phone just to try and get something filmed as point of view shots, however this turned out to be unsuccessful and a waste of time.

We had all the props ready and eventually found the technician. We regrouped and decided to split into smaller tasks to do some jobs. One group went to fetch the camera and my group went to a teacher to borrow some students to act in our thriller which was pre arranged.  The week before the shoot day I approached a teacher I was quite familiar with and asked if we could borrow students in uniform to use for our thriller.We decided that this would be better as the killer would be shown to have no heart, as he is shooting both boys and girls  who are younger than him perhaps and not appearing to target a particular gender. Once the camera was set up and ready, we began shooting the thriller during the lesson time in a teacher toilet, as this was roomier than a normal toilet and would allow us to get more effective shots. We used am over the shoulder shot with the idea of editing it to become eye-line match to show the evil intention of the killer as you can see the anger in his eyes.  At this point we decided to record the school-children being shot using the camera handheld, in order to incorporate a slight shaky idea of the shooting, which means that it would be more realistic and more hyped.  We then used the actual cameras to film. We decided that this would be the best time to do it, as the corridors would be less busy. We filmed the first part of the thriller where the killer is in the bathroom, and then we got the school children set up in different locations i.e. the stairs and the corridor that rooted from the staircase. We filmed a tracking shot following the killer down the stairs using the camera handheld in order to incorporate a slight shaky idea of the shooting, which means that it would be more realistic and more hyped. We had to record the shooting of the 2 girls running a couple of times, in order to get a variety of different camera angles and positions in order to make the scene look professional. We then had to film separate shots of the killer walking towards the PE department. We did this because otherwise we would use jump cuts and the killer would be at the PE department already, I think jump cuts would look silly and unprofessional for this type of thriller, so we filmed the killer walking and reloading to fill in parts and extend the length of the thriller. This took us the most part of a lesson so to film the killer walking through the corridors, my colleagues were standing in the corridors making sure no one interrupted the filming and we could get the last shot of the lesson done. I went to go and ask in the PE office if they would like to be a part of our thriller because to be a high school massacre you should kill the teachers as well as the students. Once they agreed we obtained footage from them being shot from a few angles. I think that it was a good idea to film the PE office being shot, as it shows that not only school children were killed, but also the staff that are obviously adults. The killer then proceeds to open the doors of the hall, where he would stand still. We initially had a shot of the killer nodding his head, but decided to not include it as it would be too long.

The second shoot day should’ve taken less time than it did but we did after school so it didn’t matter too much. It featured all of the shots that the basketball player needed, including the moves and shots, and also the ending where he moves towards the killer. I had to ask our teacher if we would be allowed to start filming during the lesson. He agreed, and we went to ask the PE department if we would be allowed to use their hall to shoot the filming of the basketball player. The actor playing basketball had to get his gear ready such as the jersey and shorts, along with the correct shoes and socks in order to fulfil the role of the basketball player to the best he could. We filmed a lot of shots with the basketball player so that we had a wide variety of angles and shots to choose from. This shoot ran smoothly however, it took the player some time to get the ball in as he kept missing. However I believe that it would have been better if we didn't take up the hour that we used to film, as we only practically needed roughly 30 minutes maximum in order to get all of the footage that we needed, plus extra shots if they were needed in the editing. After we believed we had finished we counted the number of killings we had done and I particularly wasn’t satisfied. However, at this point it was lunchtime so there were students roaming the corridors. I came up with idea to film the killer going into a classroom and leaving it again in separate shots, so that we could film a different classroom in the school as the one we filmed the killer entering had students nearby. We did so that on the final product it would still look like he had gone into that same camera.

The shoot account ended at this point, as we just needed to edit the two scenes together in order to make the contrast between the killer and the basketball player. If we got the chance to film again, I would ensure that we used the school cameras to film all of the shots, as we used them for all shots except for the shots where the school children were killed. As well as this, for some unbeknown reason, the camera was not in HD so effected the quality when editing.

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Our Inspiration for our Thriller Titles

Inspiration for the titles of my thriller

The titles layout for my thriller has been inspired by another film called 'Ae Fond Kiss'. As the opening sequence is shown, credits are shown in different corners, where the film companies and actors are shown. This gives are mature credibility to film and is clear to which is also a big factor as the credits have to be easy for the audience to read. They also standout as they are always a different colour to the background. The simplistic font and use of a plain white identifies the films gender equality as it is very plain, if the font was pink and curly you would expect the film to be targeted at girls. This is where ours will be similar as our titles will also be a colour which isn't targeted at any sex. Just the social group that is teenagers.