Preliminary Analysis

On the Friday 20th January 2012, we began the making of our 'Preliminary'. We were given a set of instructions as to which shot types had to be included as well as what the short clip had to be based on. First things first we had to create a storyboard which we done (see 'Prelim Animatic'); and then we got our equiptment ready to begin filming. In my perspective, the process of filming went quite well as we managed to compose quite a few good shots that were useable in the clip. However, it took us a few tries to get it perfect and as we did not follow our storyboard 100 percent (in terms of including a shot-reverse-shot) we needed to film a few more shots which took up abit of extra time. Once we had all the shots that we thought we had needed, we exported it from the camcorder and onto our hard drive; from then we exported from our hard drive into 'Final Cut Pro'. In the program called 'Final Cut Pro' is where we done our editing. Firstly, we selected the clips that we wanted to use and then we put the clips in 9chronological order) on the timeline.Once that was done, we then edited the clips in terms of length which meant that we chose to extend the length of some as well as shorten the length of others. Unfortunately, the 'Match Cut' that we originally composed created such a big jump in the clip as a whole; so we had to record a few more clips on the sideline in order to make the clip run smoother. So once that was done and we had the file in 'Final Cut Pro'; we input it into the timeline which helped to tighten the huge jump in the scene. Throughout this editing process we kept on replaying the clip as we went on in order to see if the changes we made suited the clip, and if not what we needed to do in order to make it run smoothly etc. After numerous alterations (taking out clips, adding in clips etc), we finally decided to move on and put in some titles. The first title that we chose to include was one at the very beginning which said what the piece of media was and who directed it. We chose to have the writing on a separate black screen with white writing, plain and simple as we felt that it didnt need to be particulary fancy. Then we moved onto the actors. The title which showed my name (Bria Marie) was shown at the beginning in the bottom left hand corner of the screen whilst tyhe drama was being shown in the background (transition used - fading in and fading out). This specific shot was chosen as it fitted in with the way the drama was and it was visible yet didnt take the attention off the main drama. Plus, the other actor's title was shown as that specific actor appeared on the screen in the top left hand corner as it blended in (transition used - wipe in and wipe out). The last title we chose to have was one at the end on a separate black screen with white font (similar to the beginning one) which basically closed off the clip as we felt that the clip alone didnt seem to have an ending. Once we were satisfied we moved on to sound in which the progam 'Soundtrack Pro' was used. Our initial idea was to record our own foley sound of footsteps (as we already had the foley sound of the door slamming). However after experimenting with the sounds that foley soundtrack had to offer we decided to slow down one of their footsteps. After having some difficulty trying to figure out how to slow it down, we decided to dismiss it as we already have a door slamming. So we just decided to add in some background music to add that something extra to the clip; and after spending quite alot of time we found the perfect one. Once it was edited (the volume decreases when the dialogue is being shown) we imported it onto out clip and then watched the clip play. Finally we was content with what we had produced.
The whole experience of this was very much enjoyable and some lessons were definitely learnt.
- Lesson number one: follow the storyboard 100 PER CENT as it will save time and produce a thorough clip.
- Lesson number two: go that bit extra and record our own foley sounds
- Lesson number three: abide by the 5 second rule at ALL times as it will benefit us when its time to edit

Preliminary Final

This is our preliminary clip including sound :)

Foley Sound

The definition of Foley sound is the sounds that is added to videos during the editing process, examples would be footsteps, smacking water or clapping. Foley sound is important because it may be needed during the process where we make the opening to our thriller.


An example of Foley sound in thriller film could be the da vinci code, where many sounds such as gunshots or running are used.

Thinking of ideas

Our sub-genre is psychological thriller. we had a few ideas of what movies would reflect what we wanted to do for our opening scene.

We had two main ideas of where we should set it. we thought of being in the woods where its quite cold yet the lighting of it would be suitable for our theme too alongside the mise en scenes such as tall tree's and fallen leaves on the floor. A film that reflected this idea was " The Village" (2004). We watched a clip and it inspired as it was creepy and scared us. 

Our second idea was to set it at an abandoned train station in edmonton. I was there at the weekend and it was raining; it was quite dark and scary as the only light available was a few lamposts. Trains ran past yet it did not stop. The platforms were deserted and it was quite frightening. There was only a bench which was shadowed by some sort of building. When this was explained in our group discussion we thought of a few things that we could do and objects or things that made us jump. 

We then watched a few video's from past students and a particular video caught us. It was a opening which mirrored our idea of being in the woods/forest. The opening illustrated a young girl who was killed yet she's alive. We thought that this was good as it included flashback scene of her being dragged out the bath tub.

Our group had a detailed discussion of both ideas and from seeing the opening scene of the past student we decide to follow that idea. We agreed to using some of the things such as the white dress, bath tub etc. This would come under intertextuality.

Preliminary: Animatic

In the beginning of our 'Preliminary' session, we first had to plan our storyboard. After that was done we then imported it into 'Final Cut Pro' and then we edited it so that it was shown as a video. This type of video is called an 'Animatic'.

Foley Sound

What is 'Foley Sound'?
- Foley Sound is sound that is added during the editing process. These include footsteps, heartbeats and pretty much anything that makes a noise. This is relevant as we may choose to use 'Foley Sound' when creating the opening to our thriller as well as in our preliminary. This video clip demonstrates how foley sound is created.

An example of this being used in a movie (specifically a thriller) is in the movie "Paranormal Activity"; in which this technique is used to create the sound of someone running in the hallway...

Thinking of ideas

for our short film opening we threw out many ideas and ways which we could create a awesome opening which would look like a professional one and that audiences would be able to understand. our sub-genre we chose on was supernatural/psychological thriller which we thought we be the best choice.

for our original idea we said we should hold it in a forest or abandoned building one of our group member pointed out that she new a place which was abandoned years ago and was used as an old train station we believed this to be perfect and we slowly tried to build an opening to that idea.

we didn't come to a conclusion on which plan to go with so we decided we should watch some student videos and think some more about it. i then suggested that we say things that scare us the most and we should use it, so for example i said places which are dark and secluded and some of my other members suggested things like blood and other gory stuff.






i then decided that we were spending too much time just thinking and that we should spend some time doing some actually research so we spent a lot of time looking at other student trailers and how they were able to come up with their ideas and portray them. we then saw a video which resembled some of the ideas we had and we all came to the conclusion that our idea should be based around a forest and a girl.

we still have to some up of the specifics of the idea but we have a general overview of it.