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