Final Peer Feedback

Note: Some quotes have been edited to a legible standard.

U2 -55:

1) 'Wide variety of shots such as wide shots, mid shots, long shots, establishing shots and panning shots and tilt shots. these shots were effectively used to create a dark element of suspense we would expect from a thriller.'

2) 'Lots of diegetic sound used such as screams and heavy breathing which creates a dark and unsettling mood.'

3) 'The black and white colour scheme was effective in creating the more depressing mood of the film.'

4) 'There was several fades used which worked effectively and if the shots were a bit shorter the thriller would have more of a suspense element to it.'

5) The most effective element was the camera work. '


U2 - 57:

1) 'Close up - hands touching
     Over the shoulder shot,
     Long shot of walking,
     PoV.'

2) 'Swings squeaking - creepy,
    Dreaming character breathing - PoV.'

3) 'Deserted park and road - helpless.'

4) 'Slow motion, black and white, heavy breathing. Two clips on top of one another - swings. Foggy filter - dream effect.'

5) 'Breathing came in too suddenly, should be more gradual. Use a multitude of  breathing sound whenever the dreamer is walking.'

6) 'Swings and the squeaks.'

U2-58:


1) 'Variety, establishing, close up, PoV. Effective - showed the significance of obects, i.e. teddy bear.'

2) 'Creepy, eerie - worked well with the thriller genre.'

3) 'Realistic night wear. Child's cloths too 'old looking'. Man all in black worked well.'

4) 'Good fades in and out. The swinging of the swing added realism to the dream. Black and white was effective at indicating the dream environment. Slow motion used effectively.'

5) 'Girl not young enough. Sleeping in daylight.'

6) 'Editing made it a very effective production.'

U2-59:


1) 'Long shots,
     Close up,
     Point of View.'

2) 'Eerie music, sounds like swings. Heavy breathing. Worked well because it sounded threatening.'

3) 'Empty playground and desolate street linked into the theme and genre.'

4) 'Double vision on swings.'

5) 'The dreaming man seems too much like an antagonist - appose to a protagonist.'

6) 'The effect on the swings.'

Final Version -- Playground!

Our film idea

Overall Plot
We decided to make our film project into a crime thriller sub genre. Our idea took a while to decide on and much discussion took place over what to make it about.
Our idea for our film was that our main protagonist has a dream about a young girl who he has never met before who gets stolen by a mysterious man who he has also never seen before. He follows them throughout the dream able to see everything but not able to help. He sees them holding hands and turning a corner where they go out of view. He follows behind them only to hear a scream and when he sees the young girl she has been killed. At this point the guy wakes up panting in bed and the film fades out.

Characters
Our main protagonist in the film is called Steve.
The mysterious man and young girls names and identity are not revealed at all in the entire film.

Title
We decided to name our film 'Playground' as it goes against the view that most thriller films are named after a disorder that the protagonist has such as Insomnia etc. The name 'Playground' also went along and linked in with the young girls innocence and the setting we used.

Location
We will film all our footage in and around a park area in a quiet area of cambridge. There is also one shot which will be filmed in Mitchell's bedroom.

Light/Colour/mood
Filming will take place in a open area in the daytime as this will mean we have the use of natural lighting. we also need it to be slightly dark and raining when we are filming to help create a certain eerie mood for our project. Our actual project will be completely in Black and White apart from the scenes in Mitchell's bedroom. We decided this created the look of a dream rather than having it all in colour. It also helps distinguish between real life and the dream.

Costumes
protagonist - will be wearing normal casual clothing.
antagonist - will be wearing dark clothing and we won't see his face.
Girl - young children's clothes to create a sense of youth and innocence also never see her face.

Music/Sound
We will use an original piece of music that will run through the whole of our project sequence.

Editing within 'Playground'

The editing of 'Playground' has been carried out to comply to the conforms of the genre, and covey an eerie atmosphere during the sequence. We did this through a number of aspects:

1. Firstly, we set the pace of the shots to reflect the on-screen footage, for example, during the playground scene, we had slow transition shots. However, when the young girl was abducted, we began to reduce the shot duration, to increase the pace of the scene, and build tension.
2. Next, we added black and white with dark edges to the shots to give a distorted dream compared to the normal everyday life of what would normally be going on this is confusing and different.
3. Finally, we corrected the shots and sections, putting them in order, so that it made continual sense and didn't confuse the viewer.

The difference between horror and thriller conventions

Horror: 

• A horror movie is often predictable and you can usually tell who is going to die next. 
• The death happens almost immediately. 
• The women are normally the main victims, but are also usually the only survivors .
• If the main characters are groups they are, more often than not, killed off one by one. 
• Horror is usually in a suburban setting.
• The cast normally consists of younger groups.
• Adults and authorities are often absent or unhelpful but not always.
• Horror often contains more gore.

Thriller:

• A thriller tries to get into your head.
• They are often more psychological and cause you to think. 
• A thriller often leaves the audience with unanswered questions.
• There is almost always a Protagonist and an antagonist.
• Often more mature
• More likely to star well-known and expensive actors.
• The answers are normally explained at the end but not always.

Marking Criteria

Video - 60 marks. 

Level one - up to 23 marks.

Level two - 24 - 35 marks. Basic ability.

Level three - 36 - 47 marks. Proficient ability.

Level four - 48 - 60 marks. Excellence ability.

• 1. Where appropriate use a steady shot to avoid confusion for the audience.
• 1. Framing a shot including and excluding elements.
• 1. Using a variety of shot distances, angles and types.
• 1. Shooting material appropriate to the task.
• 1. No swearing.
• 1. No young children.
• 1. Selecting the mise-en-scene.
• 1. Editing so that the meaning of the piece is apparent and clear to the audience.
• 1. Using various shot transitions and effects to add to add emphasis where needed.
• 1. Clear dialogue.
• 1. Using titles appropriately - film credits, title - make it interesting and to the point. 

Problems with the Shooting schedule

      Due to the problems we had with finding a location we had to change our shooting schedule as it was arranged for filming in Sawston. We were originally going to film at the weekend giving us the entire day to film, unfortunately a member of our group was unable to attend at this weekend so we couldn't film when intended. However, this problem was easily overcome as we simply decided to film during lessons as the location we had chosen was close enough to walk to and from with plenty of time to spare.

Feedback on Final Thriller Project

Thriller Feedback

Sound

• Eerie music
• Breathing/panting made the dream realistic 
• Possible change of sound throughout dream
• Becomes monotonous after a while
• Scream was done well - loud

Mise - en - Scene

• Props - teddy-bear showed she was young
• Location - playground related to film 
• Next to motor-way made it less dramatic
• Costume - little girl costume looked too old 
• Costume in bed made it realistic

Editing 

• Good use of fading in and out
• Vignette effect created good sense of a dream
• When swing shook created a sense of drama
• Credits went well with sequence and genre 

Camerawork

• Good choice of shots 
• Seeing objects understand the location
• Close-ups used well
• POV created a sense that he was in a dream
• You don't see her face - creates questions

Best point

• Good editing created a real sense of a dream
• Ending of sequence created questions

Improvements 

• He is asleep in daylight
• Traffic - took away 'spookiness'
• Sounds become a bit boring as the tune goes on through whole film. 

Problems encountered with Selecting a location

      One of the major problems our group encountered before we even started filming was choosing a location to film in. We were originally going to film in Sawston as it had a park and a street which were both ideal to film in as they suited the proposed locations our film was going to be based in. However, our group was unable to meet in Sawston as we couldn't all meet at the same time, and it would have been a struggle for some members of the groups to get there. We then decided to film in cambridge, but, due to the nature of our film, we felt that cambridge would have been to busy to get the shots we needed as our film was supposed to be quite isolated. We eventually found a nearby park which we could film in and a street nearby that we could film on.

Film Titles

      The title of a film is very important, as it is one of the first pieces of information that commonly reflects the film's narrative, characters and/or location.
      It is an important piece of information which must be thoroughly considered. We therefore chose a varied selection of titles, and presented them to a focus group for detailed responses.

      As our thriller's sub genre is crime, we needed to encapsulate this, such that it is immediately recognizable to the audience.

Our original title ideas were the following:

• Playground Mafia
• Sleepless
• Restless
• Playground

      After several hours of elaborate discussion we concluded that the title of our film shall hence forth be known as 'Playground'. We felt it was suitably eerie, as well as being representative of a our setting. It also reflects childhood innocence which merged in well with the portray of the young girl's character.

Atmospheric Background Music

     We needed background music that would add to the atmosphere, while not overwhelming the on-screen action with excessive melodic features. We therefore concluded to use ambient music, to add to the eerie atmosphere -- free from the subconscious judgements of key.
      The music is originally from a pre-set theme on the Nexus plugin. We then proceeded to record several bars, convert it to an mp3 format, then upload it to final cut and our visual footage.  

Changes made due to feedback (Rough Cut 2)

      After the feedback we were given, we made some minor changes to our work to conform to the criticism, these changes included things such as dividing the first shot into multiple shots, this was achieved through adding different angled shots to further emphasise Steve's tossing and turning. Next, we added short flashes of the dream, during the shots of Steve's restless sleep. This was effective in creating a smoother and more gradual transition into the dream.

      Also, successfully added filters to the shots within the dream sequence, to give a more dream look, this is done through fading the edges of the shots, giving them a dark tinge. And by distorting the image, it assists in creating the surreal and abnormal environment of a dream.

Rough Cut two

Armar's Feedback on Rough Cut Two

Edit in swing shots, during the opening sleeping man sequence -- To develop a more gradual transition into the dream environment. For example, a brief shot of the swing before the actual dream begins.

Add customisable filters (effects) per shot to emphasis the distinction between the 'real' sleeping man sequence, and the dream sequence.

Add shots of running during the longer running sequence to keep it exciting and keep the energy in the build up of the moment to keep the audience in suspense.

Overall Armar said it was a good piece of work and only these minor changes had to be made. He also said we could play around with transitions used in shots

Rough Cut -- Feedback (57-U2)

       There are many different interesting shots but the scene the shots are showing drag on a bit and could use a bit more variety or action.

We couldn’t really tell what genre it was but as an opening sequence it really sets the scene for what the audience should expect for the rest of the film.

       There was so much ambient noise and some clips were louder than others which doesn’t show consistency. When the gate shuts it makes the audience jump but it could close quietly showing that the person who took the girl is quiet and doesn’t want to be seen? Also the swing shot after the gate is silent to be given a shot with loud ambient noise.

       There isn’t really any transition between the shots it just goes straight from one to the other.

       We really liked when the sings looked double, it was a really good effect and also when the girl drops the bear. The scenes leading up to this though drags on and we felt a bit board.