Final Finished Film of 'Killing Between the Lines' World Premiere!

Here is our audience feedback and views on the final film:

We recieved no negative feedback and everyone loved the improvements we made to our first pre-production like the voice over narration and added sound effects. Overall, our film has become a big success with our audience and proves it can succeed. Through our film and ancillary texts I have learnt many things about different media concepts but if I were to do anything different text time I would... realise that sometimes your audience's feedback does count. I have made the most of this feedback and listened to there ideas. I have thoroughly enjoyed making this project. - Lewis Brookes.

Critical evaluation: 1

In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We took utmost consideration in maintaining continuity within out film. We researched and observed films from other projects from Youtube (other A2 projects and professional short films) and noted any failures in continuity, which we would endeavour to avoid. We observed that these continuity errors had a negative impact on the film and decreased viewing pleasure. These errors made the viewer more aware they were watching a film rather than being immersed in it.

We researched camera techniques and positions as well as rules such as the 180-degree rule. Using a static camera allowed us to easily navigate the positions with careful planning beforehand. We encountered difficulties with where to place the camera for shot-reverse-shots and match-on-action but with our attentive planning we managed to film these successfully.

Using the HD1000 we could ensure that it was filmed all in the same format. However, we encountered the problem that we had filmed part of it in standard definition format rather than high definition, which was very noticeable and detracted from the film; we overcame this by re-shooting the scene. This affected our schedule, but it was necessary to make, as we believed it was very important to keep continuity. With the heaviness of the camera it was difficult to keep the camera steady when attempting POV shots and therefore we decided to limit the amount we used.

During the editing stage we came across many other difficulties that we had not noticed until we had imported to final cut express. We realised that match on action was not entirely fitting. We noticed that human errors played an impact i.e. I as Andrew Francis had not taken into account how far I should bend over when picking up the papers in the work scene. We quickly rectified this though by reducing the length of the shot we intended and using a different one in place. There were also parts which didn’t look right, for example in the second killing we originally had it so it went into hitting the victim from tapping him on the shoulder. We decided this was too abrupt and chose to include cross cutting to increase the fluidity.

Originally we hadn’t taken great notice to the continuity of the sound, however after paying close attention we noticed ‘crackling’ within the background as well as others speaking in the background. We overcame this by using cleaner audio from other scenes that worked with the shot. There were also noticeable changes in the soundtrack the audience was very aware to this and ruined viewing pleasure and decrease continuity. We corrected this by using fades in and outs to allow it to sound much smoother. We also went for rhythmic editing to create greater impact i.e. music starting fading out when putting the glass down and fading back in after the sound of it being put down.

We originally had several ideas, however we felt it was best to opt with a thriller. However, there are multiple options for a thriller to go with, as there are so many sub-genres and hybrids on offer. We researched many options through youtube, imdb and looked at numerous conventions for a specific style and decided we’d go with a psychological thriller. We analysed the conventions needed and found that a dark, mysterious character was often used and that they often weren’t fully aware of the overall story and that the audience didn’t realise this until the main character did. Examples we found were Patrick Bateman in American Psycho and Trevor Reznik from The Machinist – also, I was influenced by the creepy character of Jon Doe from Se7en. Originally I wanted a schizophrenic character with a double personality as that of Tyler Durden in Fight Club, however it was difficult to imitate this in only five minutes and be able to create an original film.

We used similar elements in our film such as Andrew not aware of being manipulated by his wife and used original ideas such as Andrew’s OCD, I felt this was a good addition as it made the character much more interesting. We used original plot as Andrew’s wife is drugging him and it is in fact her who is committing the murder. We used other conventions of thriller such as attention, fast paced editing and audio as well as sound effects to create edginess and make the film exciting.

 

We deliberately subverted expectations in the film to create an interesting and dramatic twist. The film was built up to imply that Andrew was the killer, however the truth is that it was his wife Maria who was the killer and she kills Andrew. The audience would have originally have been against Andrew as he is presented as a dark, creepy character. However, the audience may feel sympathetic towards him when they find out how he'd been manipulated by Maria. We also used the soundtrack to lessen tension in the work scene and built it up as he is gradually getting more and more annoyed to reflect Andrew's emotion. We also slowed it down when he is walking back into his house and built it up to a crescendo at the point he is shot by his wife. This build up-slow down-build up created an excitement and tension to reflect the overall genre and topic of the film.

Richard Dyer's theory of entertainment can be applied to our film which suggests that an audience is temporarily put into a scenario of utopia when viewing a film, especially those who feel that their life is not ideal. 'Intensity' is a relevant feature in our film as we build intensity through action, music and editing i.e. intensity was formed through the actions of beating up a victim, and the other murder scenes. From editing we made sure there were many cuts and varied close up shots that would stay to thriller conventions that made up tension as well as cutting to the music to further intensify. The music increases intensity as it builds up to an eventual crescendo in the scene where he is coming into his home reaching a peak point just before he is shot by his wife. 

Another theory in which can be applied is the Laura Mulvey's scopophilia theory of narrative ("love of looking" to me and you). The audience will be greatly interested in seeing the perception of another person and how their character is presented and the ordeals in which they go through within our film for example, tricked and drugged by his wife, OCD and is then eventually murdered. The setting of the film will greatly add to the audience pleasure as there are some nice shots especially at the beginning with the clouds that present an eerie pathetic fallacy accompanied with the eerie music. Also, variation of shots and sound effects with tense moments and fast cutting. 

Though our film I feel is an orignal film, it would be ignorant and untrue to say that it was from our own imagination completely. We were influenced by a number of films i.e. Se7en, A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho and The Machinist. Se7en influenced us for our title sequence with the flickering text and writing in the diary. The narration of Andrew Francis was influenced by the character of Alex from A Clockwork Orange, using speech that would be comparative to his character. American Psycho; how he is perceived as a psychopath, but with our own twist - I would have liked to have created a character like Patrick Bateman in my own film but 5 minutes was not long enough to create this convincingly, same goes for Trevor in The Machinist as I'd like to go for someone who has insomnia and split personality (similar to Fight Club). There were many of favourite films that I'd have liked to have taken bits and pieces from but we knew it had to be original and I feel we accomplished this with a unique narrative. 

Critical evaluation: 2

Poster design update

This is our update final poster, we changed the brightness of the photo to make it stand out more to our audience and added the tagline 'Oblvious to everything' for marketing purposes and it is the stand out line of the film, similar to 'Why so serious?' from The Dark Knight. It also creates more mystery as to who is oblivious to everything, which links to our twist at the end of the film without revealing what it is.

Radio trailer

This is the radio trailer for our film, which uses dialogue and sound effects from our film we feel this is effective through giving key aspects from the film like the gun shot making the audience wonder who has been murdered. It also gives brief glimpses of the storyline which is appealing and makes the audience want to watch our film. 



Film poster

Here is our finished poster


It takes influence from The Machinist as it uses opacity and uses cloud effects which reflect his unsure (opaque) understanding that is clouded by being unknowingly drugged. The red and white text on black background is to match the logo of our company (PsychFilms) and gives a sinister and eye-catching look. I feel that this poster reflects the overall tense and edginess of our film.

Critical evaluation: 4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

We quickly realised as a group that media technologies are invaluable within the whole construction of the film. To get a first foot through the door, research was essential. We used Youtube to research short films, watching many student films as well as professional ones. We looked for projects related to our own and observed different techniques and ideas that could inspire us to create our own film.

Technology was also valuable to the planning stage. We used Google Calendar to plan filming dates as well as website blogger which helped us to keep a log of all our ideas and plans. Within the group, Facebook and mobile phones were use to communicate ideas and meeting times as well as with the characters needed for the scenes. Software such as Microsoft Office was used to create questionnaires for feedback and handheld cameras were used to film other audience feedback.

BBFC website was used to research the film certificates and allowed us to decide the appropriate certificate for our own film. IMDB proved helpful in researching film genres and synopses.

Other media technologies such as the digital recording technology is what made the film possible and look professional. The HDV-1000 video camera and a Flash Zoom recorder allowed us to record audience research, audience feedback, the film itself and the radio trailer.

We would later import this entire media into an Apple Macintosh where we could edit these using a variety of software. Final Cut Express was essential in editing the film and bringing it all together as a finish product. This software allowed us to use creativity and improve the overall film with both video and audio. We could add different effects i.e. slow motion, wire framing, colour correction, fading and cutting. This software was used nearly every lesson in order to try and perfect our film.

Garage band was used to create the radio trailer, we chose this software as it is very simple to use and we could import sounds from our film as well as a voice over recorded and imported from the Zoom recorder. We used this to create a backing track that created an interesting and listenable radio trailer.

Image editing software, Adobe Photoshop was used in the creation of our logo and theatrical poster. Pictures for the poster were taken using a Panasonic HD handheld camera and once imported we would edit and manipulate with Photoshop. We used many different filters i.e. clouds and pasturizer in conjuction with other effects such as changes in saturation and colour levels.

Social networking sites allowed us to receive feedback for the first draft of our film and we used this feedback to develop what would be our final film. This was exported from Final Cut to be uploaded to Youtube and then linked onto the social networking site Facebook. Facebook and youtube were chosen as it has many users that could give us feedback very quickly and easily.

Technology never always fell in our favour and was often unreliable. Often Blogger wouldn’t allow us to upload pictures and the layout wasn’t entirely favourable – images were difficult to place in the desired position. There were numerous problems with video cameras i.e. battery charge and this created delays and preventing us from meeting subjective deadlines. There were other problems with fault fire wire when trying to import media as well the actual digital camera itself. The manual reel made it difficult to focus correctly and many scenes had to be re-shot as they were out of focus. There were problems with white balance and had to be colour corrected in Final Cut, as well as light issues where an entire scene had to be re-done. There were many human errors i.e. shot positions and mistakes in the acting that were not noticeable until the editing stage, mainly continuity errors.

In conclusion, technology was absolutely essential and allowed me to delve into imagination and creativity and converge many medias together. However, there are so many resources out there that it is so difficult to create original ideas and essentially everything is borrowing from someone else. The internet reduces originality as others' work and ideas are so easily accessible.

Critical evaluation: 3

Poster design

For our poster design I have already done my own research. I will be taking elements from these and form them together with my own ideas. I will be annotating my finished design with ideas from other posters.

Ideas so far, image in the centre with Andrew holding the book. Patches will be faded to imply not everything is clear cut.

Houston we have a problem...

After filming the scene where Maria reads and writes in the diary, we initially thought that was the whole filming over and we could focus on the editing and putting in music, voice recording and sound effects to finally finish our short film. However, this is not the case. After looking into final cut express, we realised that even with the non included title sequences and credits we were way under the five minute mark. This led me to think of a new scene...

Even with the voice overs, there was still a key part missing that we hadn't realised earlier and that was the actual development of the character Andrew. Unfortunately we have very little time to film so we are focusing it into one longer scene and we have to work efficiently.

My idea is to have him go into work, I decided that he is going to be a journalist (the career I wish to choose also) I have the advantage of already written an article as English coursework and can use this on the computer screen to show his occupation.

This scene will show little obsessions such as lining up pencils perfectly etc and frustrated and angry when a colleague (played by Jordan Cockles) interrupts him whilst he's working and messes up his lined up pencils. As it's the same character that his killed in the park it gives a motive for Andrew to kill him (although it isn't actually Andrew killing him) rather than just a random killing. I'll devise a script and storyboard and worry about posting it later.
I'm also using the character that was killed in the park played by Jordan Cockles.

Search for music

An important part of the film is sound effects and of course the non diegetic music. Good use of music gives a whole new dimension to the film.




This is from the end of the film The Prestige, it uses a piano and in a low key at a slow tempo and becomes faster at the end as it shows the building on fire. This works well with this film as it makes it more dramatic and builds up, however it wouldn't work for the majority of our film apart from the end where Andrew is dead and Maria is writing in the diary.
For the end of the film the music should be slower and low key and during the action parts where there is faster editing quicker tempo music and higher key.

In modern comedy films i.e. American Pie series and The Hangover, they tend to use either rock or pop songs which often have a fast tempo. They are usually popular songs which is obviously unavailable to our film and would not match the genre. We would be looking for slower tempo music in low key and gets faster and higher key in certain situations i.e. killings and the kitchen scene where Maria has the gun.

Radio trailer

Radio trailer for 'Superman the movie'. this radio trailer uses sound from within the film and the theme music. It also quotes reviews and mentions the age certificate of the film.
In our radio trailer we may incorporate sound from our own film i.e. the narration and perhaps the gun shot.

Film poster research

This is the poster for the film The Machinist. In the middle is an image of the main character who is looking away from the centre showing that he's looking at something, there is shadowing on one side of his face which indicate that not all is what it seems. Furthermore, there are images in front of the character with an opacity which further indicates that not everything is clear cut and suggests that the character isn't fully aware of what is happening in the film. The character has a serious expression to show that something serious is happening and definitely indicates it isn't a 'happy' film. The tag at the top 'How can you wake up from a nightmare if you're not asleep?' shows that the character is probably suffering from sleep deprivation and possibly reveals that bad things happen to him. 

The poster uses dark colours which fits in with the thriller genre, showing that it is in itself a dark film. 

The red font of the actors name provides a clear contrast to the darkness of the poster. It is in capitals to stand out. 

The title is the biggest font and in capitals to stand out, the white contrasts to the rest of the poster and is eye catching therefore clear to viewers what the title is. 

Filming update

Tuesday 24th January, we filmed the kitchen scene. We used 2 point lighting which I stated previously to increase the quality of the footage.

[images here]

Wednesday 25th January, we filmed the first killing. I decided to use Phoenix park in Thurnscoe as it is a local location so easily accessible for me and has nice scenery. The scenery increases the quality of the shots and improves the film.

[images here]

Lighting research

For filming tonight we decided it would be better if we used extra lighting rather than just the overhead fluorescent lighting. This would greatly improve the shots, thus making the film look much better.

However, as I do not have any experience with lighting and not entirely sure how to use them I thought it would be helpful to research them.



This video we found on youtube was very helpful and showed us where to place the lights. It explains and shows how to use the lighting.

Although, this video did not give great detail into setting up and we found another that explains other parts the above one doesn't.



This gave me a greater insight in how to set up the lights and how to use them for a greater effect.

Update

As we haven't posted for a while I thought I'd post a few screen shots of the filming and editing we've done so far on Final cut express software.

Medium shot of Andrew at the table

Close up of Andrew writing in the diary

These are some of the screen shots from Andrew's study room. This is the scene where he is writing in his diary and narrating the first killing.
Below are screen shots of the second killing. These shots are from a park in Thurnscoe.

Establishing shot of location 

Similar shot to first - After killing James Jones walking off

James Jones being beaten to death

James Jones walking through the park medium shot

Editing of the film

Editing in Final Cut Express. 

Filming schedule

Our filming outside of college will be finished by Wednesday

Tuesday: Kitchen scene - Bolton-upon-dearne (6pm-7:30pm)
Wednesday: Killing scene - Phoenix park - Thurnscoe (2pm-3:30pm)

The title sequence will be filmed within college and the last scene where Maria Francis is in the study room will be too. This will all hopefully be finished this week.

Footage - Saturday 3rd December

After looking at our film, we realised that the lighting is too low key which means we will have to shoot again and probably have to find a new location due to the darkness of the rooms we used. Also, a few shots were out of focus and would have to be re-shot.

Here is some of the footage that went well. However, the lighting on one of the shots doesn't match the rest and is too red/orange.

Filming 3rd December

We managed to begin our filming last Saturday, however due to it becoming dark and losing the natural light we had to stop the filming. We aimed to film on Sunday, however it was raining and cloudy so it was too wet and too dark to continue filming. We will have a look at the footage we have got, but it might not look right because the lighting in the house was quite poor in some places. If this is the case, we will have to look at a new location to shoot the climax of our film.

Characters

Andrew Francis - The main character of the film. He believes he is a serial killer and writes what he believes in a diary. However, this is not the case and is secretly being drugged by his wife. He is mentally unstable, but does not realise this. He is being manipulated by his wife, eventually she kills him. He is quite poor and lives in an old house which is in a bad state i.e. old torn carpet, old furniture etc.

Age: 31
Occupation: Works in an office taking phone calls
----------------------------------------------------------------
Maria Francis - Maria is the wife of Andrew, she is actually the serial killer but allows her husband to believe he is the killer, it also gives her a perfect alibi if it ever comes back to her. She isn't happy with the way of her life and has resorted to murder to fill a void. She is no longer in love with her husband and drugs him which makes him unstable and confused and makes him believe he is committing the murders. She has become sociopathic and kills her husband in the end. She earns much more money than her husband as a successful counsellor, however does not spend her money on upgrading the house, as she plans to eventually leave.

Age: 29
Occupation: Counsellor
----------------------------------------------------------------
Laura May - Laura is the first girl to be killed in the film, though it is implied that Andrew kills her you do not clearly see the figure and it was actually Maria who killed her. She was not killed for any particular reason, only for Maria's satisfaction and amusement of making her husband believe he killed her. Laura is a young student who is on her way home from work when she is killed, she studies at Barnsley college and lives with her parents Linda and Frank May. She saves her money for going out on a weekend and going to music gigs.

Age: 18
Occupation: Student and part time waitress

----------------------------------------------------------------
Katie Smith - Katie is the second girl to be killed in the film by Maria, though is shown through Andrew's perspective as if he's killed her. She's also a student at Barnsley College studying A-Levels. She is killed on her way home from college after staying late. She is a hardworking student and hopes to study Law at University. She enjoys going to the cinema and plays the piano.

Age: 17
Occupation: Student