Unit 21 (Film Editing)

10/05/19

Today we started by splitting the class into 2 groups, once we were in these groups we began telling each other our initial ideas, for instance there was an idea to have a big dinner murder mystery, much like the film Clue. With these ideas, we adapted them and added elements from each one into the final creation. We first came up with the idea to have a house party based murder mystery, but since the other group had the same idea we began devising other ideas. Firstly we thought of a formal dinner party which was reminiscent of ‘Clue’ and mostly consisted of ideas presented by one group member, but then decided we didn’t like the idea, so I proposed we do a breakfast club idea set in detention which would not only be easier to film, but also more realistic since we are students, so acting as students is more realistic than looking like formal adults.

Once we had decided on this final idea we began to talk about the characters that’d be in the film, we started by casting ourselves and settling on whether we’d have stereotypical characters that severely twist stereotypes or just no stereotypes, since we didn’t want stereotypical characters due to the fact this isn’t supposed to be a humorous production.

When discussing what the characters would be like, we also decided, based on their personality why they were in detention. So we had an element of stereotype to a degree.

23/05/19

Today we came into lesson prepared to confront Joe with our ideas for the plot since he had essentially taken charge of the plot. In the lesson we spent about an hour discussing changes we could make. We completely scrapped our initial intention of having Kira accidentally killing Matt when her target was the teacher. We felt it was too unrealistic and the chance of accidentally killing someone else was too high so it was quite a poor idea. We changed it so that Kira is still the murderer, but her intentions are to kill Eugene and not the teacher. I thought it’d be a good idea to add little things over the plot that are brushed to the side, yet when the murder is resolved they all add up to make a story. So we all collectively decided on the way the murder would happen. It would begin with Kira attempting to strangle Matt but he manages to break free (This would leave the plug loose, which would seem like a pointless addition until the realisation) then Kira would push Matt and he’d bash his head on the table side, knocking him unconscious (This would be a red herring to me as I’m playing the violent jock type so it’d seem right for me to use brute force). Then Kira would force acid down his throat. This would spill on both her hand and the floor. The spillage on the floor would be brushed aside initially as well since the characters assume it’s coffee as Eugene had a mug of coffee. And as for the spillage on her hand, it’d be covered by makeup that Kira borrowed from Mia (Which initially will just seem like filler footage but will serve a purpose in the long run). When all the characters are trying to resolve the murder. Someone (Undecided) will start accusing Kira, this’ll make her nervous and sweaty, etc, causing her makeup to rub off revealing the burn. Which will act as a clue and help Jack solve who killed Matt.

After deciding on the plot changes we started to choose roles for each other, we decided that Joe should redo and finalise the script, Jay will do props and budget breakdown, Jack will do lighting and legal/ethical considerations, Matt will do production schedule and equipment breakdown, I will do location Report and risk assessment, Mia will do character breakdowns, kira will do costumes.

31/05/19

Today, after working every now and then over the half term, I finished work on the location scouting and risk assessment. I took into account all main locations we would use and the corridor as I assumed we may film some scenes in there. When doing the risk assessment

06/06/19

In lesson, we worked more on pre-production, I started and finished the mood board, considering all the characters, and locations and props. Whilst everyone else also finished off their pre-production tasks.

07/06/19

Today, we went on private study to film some shots, In TRB_15 we filmed the vast majority of scene 2, including Matt’s death, which involved a lot of discussion on camera angles and shots, etc as we didn’t want to get Kira (the murderer)’s clothing in shot as we didn’t want to give away who killed him. We eventually decided to get a few takes of each shot, just to give us more control and freedom when editing. We managed to film the beginning of scene 2, a little bit of the 15 minute break, and Matt’s death, and the realisation. So we’ve almost filmed the entirety of scene 2, we just need to film the break scenes, and then begin shooting scene 8.

11th June - today we filmed the entirety of scene 2, everything went fairly smoothly, there were a few disagreements over certain camera shots and performances, but we were able to resolve them as best we could, the general mindset we had was that we could film a variety of shots and angles so that when it comes to editing we have more freedom, this way everyone is happy.

13th June - today we had to reshoot 1 shot from scene 2, this is because we weren't happy with the original shot as we all walked the same way downstairs, but in the reshoot we had Kira walk into the toilet, me and Jay walk downstairs, and mia walk the complete opposite way after leaving the room. After this we went on to film what everyone does on their break, so Jay's homework copying in the canteen, Mia's phone call, and Kira's toilet break. Joe and Jack also filmed hacks office/break scene.

14th June - today I woke up late, despite setting 
an alarm, so due to that we ended up filming behind schedule, we filmed the drug deal scene firstly, and then moved into rescheduling trb_15 so that we could film in it. After lying tables on the floor to hide Matt's dead body we began filming scene 8. For scene 8 we set up a big table in the middle and made it seem like an interrogation. We ran through the scene multiple times, shooting from multiple angles so that when it comes to editing we can use what angles we want and cut between them whenever we want. After filming multiple angles we also did a few close ups, such as people saying their lines and Kira rubbing her acid ridden hand. This is all in an effort to add more diversity and freedom in the editing front 


18th June - today we began editing, I imported AL the files from both SD cards and began with scene 2. Today I focused on the 15 minute break segment of the episode where everyone goes off on their own individual breaks. I edited each person's break individually and also the murder scene as that happened during the break. After editing each individual section I was unsure what order to show each person's break, so I initially tried by showing Jay's, then mine, then mias, then kiras but it didn't work. So instead I tries showing Mias, then Jay's, then mine, then Jack's, then the murder and then kiras break. 

20th June - today I went back to continue editing scene 2, I finished up the murder, made it look nicer by positioning and scaling shots as to hide kiras appearance more, I then imported a heartbeat/flatline sound which I used during the murder to show Eugene's life fading away. After I'd finished this the scene was done so I moved onto editing scene 8. To begin with I imported all the necessary footage for scene 8 and began editing. I added a disolve between the shot of the door and the master shot so it's like the camera has gone through the door into the room. For the whole investigation shot I used the master shot to refer back to often and added different shots every now and then. For instance the mid shot of just Jay saying his only line just so he seems more prominent as he doesn't speak apart from this time, then the over the shoulder shot from Kiras perspective when she says she was applying makeup and I call her out for not having any on. This was simply just to add more diversity of shots, then afterwards I showed a close up of the acid scar on Kiras hand to show that it really was her, and to help viewers understand that the fluid she put in Matt's mouth was acid, or atkeast something that burns. Straight after this shot it cuts to Jacks mid shot saying "you did it" and then back to the master shot because I wanted to add more effect to Jack's accusation as it's supposed to be the big reveal. When Kira pleads for Jack not to call the police I switched to the over the shoulder shot from Kiras perspective when me and her exchange dialogue, to show that it's her against us as we're all facing her and her back is turned to make it seem as if she's alone. During Kira's explanation I added the footage of the drug deal and changed the opacity to 0% at the beginning of the shot and had it rise to 72%,then back down to 0% afterwards. This was we can see both the explanation and the scene. This is the non continuity editing factor. 

25th June - today I finished off scene 2, the last thing I had to do for scene 2 was adjust the audio level, I had to lower the music for each scene that there was dialogue, I also raised the audio in the toilet scene so that you can actually hear Kira and mia speak over the music. Then I moved onto beginning the trailer. I wanted to use a fast, upbeat song so I downloaded Run Right Back - The Black Keys, for the first shot of the trailer I used the master shot of everyone in the classroom with the title of the series 'Meetings with murder' and the title of the episode 'detention with death'. After this shot I decided to show the murder, obviously without giving away who the murderer is but I cut 4 different shots of the murder in time with the song to keep the fast pace I want. I then chose to do the exact same thing with close ups of suspect to introduce all characters and still keep up the pace of the trailer. From that point I wanted to finish up the trailer so I added the longest shot in the trailer, that being the shot of Matt under the desk and all suspects at the big table, this is to set a scene. Then I added the scene of the camera moving towards the door, but flipped it so that the camera moves away from the door as it makes it seem as though the scene takes place in just the room. Then finally I added text that progressively reveals, it reads "new episodes weekly from 03/07 - 07/08 of" 

26th June - today I finished off the trailer by adding the final bit of text, which was 'meetings with murder', this is to finish off the sentence that I began last lesson, I also had to readjust some clips so that they change on the beat of the song. I then decided to move onto the title sequence. 

2nd July - today I began the title sequence, I struggled with what I could do but I decided to just use clips of each character along with the actor and also a few title cards. Firstly I took a screenshot of a clip of Jack and using photoshop cut out the background and just had Jack, I then did the same with Jay, Matt, I then imported these onto premiere pro as single layers and made them fade in and out along with text that describes them. So Jack was 'the teacher', Jay was 'the thief' and Matt was the nerd. I had the texts fade in slightly after the pictures of their correlating character because it felt to organized and odd having them fade in at the same time. The reason I went with this idea was to push the idea that anyone could be the killer. 

4th July- today I moved straight onto getting the image of Kira for the title sequence, I decided I'd call her 'the mystery' since she's quite reserved and Noone knows much about her, I then did Mia and called her the snob, I then moved onto myself, I was the jock

5th July - today I added the final few title card "who did it", "meetings with murder", "epsidoe 1 detention with death" these cards give the relevant information needed. I then moved onto the audio, I wanted a hard hitting, evil sounding, loud noise for when it says meetings with murder and who did it so I used the inception fog horn sound and slowed the speed to 65 percent. I used this twice for when both messages appear. I then wanted to use an uplifting upbeat song to switch the mood so had decided to use reach out I'll be there by the four tops, I had the intro of just music and clapping at the beginning and after the thuds I inserted the main chorus for the final title card. Because I added this old song to the title sequence I thought it only felt right to change the stores song in scene 2 to something more old so I changed it to house of the rising sun, this song also fitted nicely with the action on theme, it was a surprisingly suitable song.