This is the completed evaluation of our AS Media Production, which outlines why and how we did most things in the film. We decided to split the evaluation up into equal sections apart from the first one in which we did it as a unit. The sections have questions at the start which are responded to in the rest of the video. Enjoy!!!
The Final Production was finished ages ago however, due to the copyright issue regarding the song used in the production we could not upload it to YouTube so therefore we were unable to put it onto the blog. In order to get round this problem we had to produce a similiar version to the song oursleves so that copyright was not an issue. Obviously in the draft versions below they also included the original song meaning that we had to edit them out to include our own version of the song.
Draft 1
This draft ended up being the one that was most like and trailer just with added extensions and more in depth narrative. We used these to draw in the audience and ultimately ending with the cliff hanger question of 'Who Done it?'. This had the shoertest version of the conversation which in the end film ended up being the longest and most important scene. We liked the look of it however, when we received feedback we realised it didnt quite reached the requirements so went back to the drawing board.
Draft 2
On producing our second draft we had made some changes. However, the overall look and feel of the production wasnt really different from our first draft. The conversation was longer and included some added bits that were not present in the first draft and after much cutting and splicing we managed to get it done to exactly 2 minutes.
Final Film
The final end film featured many different changes to the first and second drafts all of which made the final producton more streamlined and in line with the target of producing a opening sequence.
The very first clip the audience sees is that of the killer character standing under a lampost as a car approaches. We first filmed this scene at night therefore it was dark which is what we wanted, however, the lighting meant that any detail was lost. We therefore, refilmed the shot at dusk to gain a more detailed shot. Below is a clip of the scene which shows the raw footage (Blue) and the edited version (Black and White).
How was it done? Camera
Before filming the scene we implemented a great technique for filming 'Night for Day'. This can be achieved by setting the light function to 'Tungsten' and lowering the exposure to the lowest the camera offers. This means the camera takes in less light and gives it a blue tinge of night.
Final Cut Pro X
Once we had filmed all of the shots, we realised that because of the shots being so blue that it would not look very convincing and the titles used to try and make it Film Noire Style. We desaturated all of the clips, and lowered the exposure and raising the contrast. To add even more effect we masked around the character and lightened the clip to give the impression that the lamppost above him was on.
The opening sequence originally features a morph from the filming of a printed out picture of James Hanratty the supposed Antagonist , to the image of him on the Picture Wall. This caused use to use a fade technique to make a smooth transition between the two.
How was it made?
In order to be able to crate the morph shown above we had to use a software called Morph Age Pro. This software produces some really good effects as featured in our film and drafts. To create our desired effect, we had to put a path on one image that was reflected on the other, by doing this and telling the image where it has to move to, the programme will then produce the results for us. The more points and detail that we created would make the morph look even better. We really like the look of this shot as we felt is showed off our technical ability. Though when it came down to getting the opening scene to 2 minutes the shot had to be cut.
Throughout the production of our opening sequence a recurring element is that of the picture evidence wall, this wall illustrates the connection between the old and the new murder while the voice over speaks along side it. We made the entire thing in Adobe Photoshop in a large format size, this is because in the film we wanted the ability to some in and out on the wall without losing any quality. Final Cut Pro X allowed us to do this allowed us to use simple key framing to move the image around. The wall is below and can clearly be seen in the drafts for our film and behind the title in the final film:
This was one of the scenes that didn't make the final cut, it involved the PCI Character walking pas t a bus depot whilst the voice over explains why he is there, in search of the murder weapon on the backseat of one of the buses. For this scene we wanted the shot to follow alongside the characters as he walked past the depot. If we had the budget we would have used a track to make the shot extremely smooth and professional, however, this was not the case. In this case we had to hold the camera and walk alongside him this meant the shot was sort of steady yet could have been better, therefore during the editing stage we had to use a tool to finish the effect.
How it was made?
First off, we filmed the actual shot by placing the camera on the tripod and then holding the tripod vertical by the handling whist walking alongside the character, this helped us to reduce the side to side movement of the camera massively that we would have got if we just used the camera. The final effect we used was in the editing stage and involved using a tool called 'Warp Stabalise' In Adobe After Effects to further stabilise the shot.
When we were filming the car shot we couldnt help but have the shadow of the tripod obstruct the shot. However, during filming one of the characters walks in front of the shadow making another one. we used this extra shadow to mask the other one so that the shadow covered the orginal tripod shadow.
Creation Process
To create the effect we wanted, we first had to place the original clip on the main vidoe track, then freeze frame from earlier in the clip where the shadow was obstructed. However, in order to get the look we had to use an external plugin called 'RT 8 Point Matte' this allowed us to mask around the wanted shadow so that it was the only thing that could be seen on the secondary timeline. We managed to blur the edges of the picture so it became undectable if not outlined to the audience.
Admitedly we should have realised and refilmed quicker, however, this affect was so easy to produce that this was not neccessary.
