Editing

Our editing has run very smoothly with only minor problems.  I think because we had already made an animatic and test sequence for the project it has made it alot easier as we already know the structure of the edit.  We have finalised our music selection, chosing Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.  The first half uses the original music to suit its slow pace.  However the moonlight sonata piece picks up a customised version by Es Posthumus, which suits the fast pace of the sequence.  We have also finalised the style of our titles however when I tried importing them into Adobe Premiere Pro they became pixelated, but our technician should have a fix for this some time soon!

Final shoot reflections

I believe that our final shoot went really well.  We managed to get all of our shots done by the end of shoot, although it really was a rush towards the end of the day.  I think this time we were alot more confident about how we wanted the day to plan out.  We filmed all the kitchen shots first, so that for lunch we could air out the kitchen for the cigar smoke so Francis' parents didn't get too cross!  We then shot all the living room shots within an hour so we were really low on time, but in the end it turned out ok.  Time for editing!

Final Shoot

From our test shoot I've learnt that the use of lighting will be essential.  Our shots are far too grain in the test and so we will need to hire out the lighting equipment and learn how to use it effectively.  We have aloso decided to completely scrap the phone call from the opening as we feel it doesn't add anything particualrly interesting to the sequence.  I think this will allow us to use more shots at the beginning of the sequence, creating more enigma and suspense for the audience.  It will also allow us to slow the first part of the sequence down so that there is even more contrast between the pace of the sequence at the start, to the fast pace after the assassination at the end.

I also hope that we could add some more iconography such as cigarsor cigarettes and possibly an older more classic briefcase you can see im movies such as The Godfather to add tradition and conventions of our genre.   I think cigars would improve the mise en scene of our shots, with the fog of smoke lightly adding to the cold background.

A more suited briefcase of maybe brown or black leather would certainly add class to the shot, making our character look rugged yet sophisticated, heightening his importance.

Test Shoot- Reflections

I believe that our test shoot went well.  We managed to shoot all of our shots bar two; the money in briefcase CU and the pulling off of the gloves CU.  This was because we simply forgot the props needed for these shots.  The test shoot brought up alot of things that we need to think about.  We need to ensure that we bring all the necessary props to the shoot and even make a props list so we do not forget any we need.  Our main problem however was that we struggled lighting our sets and our shots were grainy, so for our real shoot we need to learn how to light effectively for the sequence.  Also, although Tasha finally pulled of a goodfocus pull, we may need a more prominent one to be effective as a shot, and so more research and advice from Chris will be needed for the final shoot.

Animatic Reflections- Joint Commentary

First Shoot 5/2/12 : Snow!

Unfortunately  our scheduled shoot on Sunday had to be cancelled due to the heavy snowfall on Saturday night, and so it wasn't possible to travel to Potters Bar to do the shoot.  We have spoken with Mrs Blackborow about when we could do our second test shoot and have decided to do it on Sunday 19th February at the end of half term.  Although this will be doable, it falls just two days after we return from L.A. on our media trip, and so I assume we will be tired through the shoot.

Update

We recieved our green light after making several changes to our initial proposal.  We firstly clarified our plot, making sure that our opening sequence was presented thoroughly, including specific shots we would like to use. We also talked about the practicalities of our sequence, for instance the use of props such as the gun and how we would need to research the post production editing of a gun shot and the special effects make up on set for a head wound. 

After our pitch, we adressed the issue of our script.  Francis made an initial script to use as a template so we could build upon it.  Chris, our media technician read the script, and knowing what direction we wanted to go with it, wrote us a revised script with all the technical language you would expect to hear in our type of film, which we were very grateful for.  The revised script is posted on our group blog. 

We are now completing our animatic, and I have been working in the edit suite putting all our shots in order, whilst also choosing a suitable soundtrack that wasn't copyrighted and creating the titles consisting of our institutional information.