Questionnaire

It is around this time that we are beginning to look at the evaluation questions, to help us with the evaluation we have created a questionnaire to give us more insight to how the audience are reacting to our thriller opening sequence 'Vengeance'. We will all post the questionnaire on our social network sites, along with the finish product. The questionnaire target specific areas of the thriller opening we have created and asks the audience to inform us on how well they believe done.

These questions are only the first draft, so we may make some changes to them if need be. 

1. From the opening sequence, does it make you want to watch the rest of the film?
2. Does the opening sequence make sense?
3. Do the camera angles work and do they create realism?
4. Are the transitions smooth?
5. Is the non-diegetic score work?
6. Does it have thriller elements within the opening?
7. Is the storyline well presented?
8. Are the props in the opening realistic?
9. Did the characters work well within the opening sequence?
10. Do you think that the locations are suitable?
11. Are the titles easy to read and do they last for long enough?

As these questions are just the the first draft for the questionnaire, I am sure that we will change them in order to get the best possible responses from the audience. Looking back at them, it is apparent to me that people who do not know much about media studies most likely would not know what some of the vocabulary means for example (non-diegetic) or they might not know what the elements of a thriller are. So they will have to be reworked so that everybody will know what we are asking them. The feedback that we receive is important because it will help us to complete our evaluation as we need to know where, what and how we can improved, and most importantly if we have made an enjoyable viewer experience.

Locations

Locations

My groups opening begins with an interview of the Prime Minister talking to the children about the government and the current state of the United Kingdoms economy. As a group we decided that the front entrance of our school was a suitable location for the interview to take place.

We chose three possible locations outside the front of the school and took pictures of them to see which one works best. The first picture is of the front reception, however we decided it is not best because it is very busy and we will constantly be interrupted and is not the most practical choice.

Or second option is outside the front gates of the school, however we decided that the scenery is very dull and on the side of the road which means it is very noisy which is not helpful when we are trying to film. We thought best not to use this location.

This is our third and final location, it is the front of the school and is a main feature of the school, it is the one that as a group we came to a conclusion that it is the most suitable place because of the fact it is one of the schools main features and is on the side of the front entrance which means that there are less interruptions.

Deadlines

Deadlines

We have been set deadlines, this will help us to be able to keep to the deadlines.

Storyboards and Animatic Presentations: Tuesday 15th January
All of the filming; Monday 28th January
Post-Production, Rough cut: Friday 15th February 4pm
Final Deadline: Friday 8th March
Individual Evaluations: Friday 29th March 4pm

These deadlines are essential to keeping us on track with our work and give us time to edit our work if we are not happy with it. 

Rough cut

Rough Cut

This is the rough cut for my groups thriller project, as you can see it needs refining as it is not quite there yet. Last week Melissa and I went up to London with Callum to film the second section of filming that had to be done. As a group we collectively decided that we needed to go to Westminster in London because, there hold lots of iconic symbols that people will associate with the Government and the Prime Minister of England. We are still searching for non-diegetic score to add to the film to give it the audience that thrilling edge to the production. We collectively decided that it was best that we did not ad the title into the clip as we were unsure if it fit in, the title was going to be 'Mad Teacher' but we thought this was not the best and most creative name. I feel that a lot of the shot have to be polished up and made so that the transition is a lot smoother, however when this is done I feel that we will be very pleased with the finishing result.

Filming - London

Melissa Kerrison, Callum Carroll and I all went up to London yesterday (February 14th) to film some new shots to add to our opening sequence. We went to Westminster so that we can film Callum coming off of the train and walking up and out of the underground tube station, and also to film him around the Houses of Parliament. This was very successful as we got done exactly what we need to do. 

I am very pleased to say that we got managed to film every shot we needed with out any problems which was nice. They were the perfect length, and were steady and the distance was right; so Callum's head was not cut out of the frame like before. 

However, there was one small problem which was the fact that we were unable to get the view of the Houses of Parliament that we wanted without viewing it from the bridge. This was a little bit of an inconvenience as we intended for Callum to be waiting right outside the Houses of Parliament waiting for the Prime Minister. Despite this I am extremely happy with the progress that we have made and this new footage will make a big difference to our thriller opening. 

These are some of the photos that we took whilst we were up in London Filming:

Deadlines

Deadlines

Storyboards and Animatic Presentations: Tuesday 15th January
All of Filming: Monday 28th of January
Post-Production (rough cut): Friday 15th February 4pm
Final Deadline: Friday 8th March
Individual Evaluations: Friday 29th March 4pm

We have all taken on roles and responsibilities in order to meet these deadlines and keep the wheels in motion. Each having our own role in our group allows us all to get on with our own thing and speeds up the whole process, which means that if we have to change anything in our film we will have enough time to sort it out and perfect it.

Roles and Responsibilities

I am taking pictures of characters, props and settings.
Melissa and Hannah are in charge of the animatic.
Finley is in charge of the shooting schedule and shot list.

The New Storyboard

After our opening title sequence was shown to the class, and assed by our peers, it became clear to us a group that we need to make a lot of changes. Some of the changes that need to made are things like; in some of the shots the lighting was not adequate, some of the panning is not smooth enough and we cut a bit of the protagonists head out of the frame. So we decided to take a step back and re-think our storyboard. The reason we chose to improve our storyboard was so that we knew exactly what we wanted it opening to look like, and exactly what we had to film. I feel that this is going to really help us to make a better more well put together piece of media.

Here is our new and improved storyboard: