Rough Cut - Miss Georgiou

When creating a film, and making it public for everyone to see, audience feedback is important for the creators as it allows them to understand what they have done well, therefore making the viewers like it, but also what could be improved. This then allows them to know what they may be able to do better next time, or even just become aware of what was needed to make it better. This allows them to acknowledge everyones views.  A rough cut is essential to carry out because then everyone knows what they need to improve before the final one has been completed. This then makes it as good as it can be and the audience's suggestion will most likely be added to the opening sequence. The audience bring in the revenue and therefore, they make the creators work credible. The audience can also determine whether a film is successful or not. Without the viewers, there would be no reason to create a film.

When receiving audience feedback from my target audience for my opening thriller sequence, I received comments from youtube.These comments really helped me as I was able to see what I did well, and what I needed to improve within my final cut. This allows me to have time to finish everything that my target audience wanted me to add in, this makes them like what I have done more and therefore, they will enjoy the production.

The first comment I received was on youtube from a 16 year old girl. She stated ' However, in my opinion the transition from the room to the house felt artificial xx'. I agree with what this person has said, as I believe that the flow needs to be smoother in order to look like a real thriller. Both I and Krista believe that this is a fair comment as she has pointed out our weakest areas. As we have received this comment, we will make sure to add a good transition before our final production is submitted in order to receive a good audience feedback after we have changed what needed to be altered. As a pair, myself and Krista both understand that we must look back at what we have done so that we can have no critical comments in the end. Within our opening sequence, we have used flashes to show four images, this makes the narrative very confusing, therefore, we are going to change it as the editing lacks originality and flow.

Myself and Krista both agree with this comment. We have been working on our lighting, however there are still some adjustments to be made. I believe that if we make the lighting darker, it can connote that there is a evil presence. The example that the person has given us an insight into what we should alter first, that way we can make this person happy and they will enjoy our film.

Myself and Krista were very interested in this comment. Although this person mentioned that they enjoyed the cinematography and editing, they didn't really like all of the background music that was used. This helped us alot because we have realized that we should re think how much music we put in the background. Although this person may be correct, myself and Krista both believe that the music makes the scenes very dramatic, creating tension and suspense for the audience.

Based on the comments that I have received, I will make sure to add more transitions so that the flow is smoother as I have previously mentioned, i will also make the lighting slightly darker so that it can represent evil, However, i don't think that we should remove any of the sinister music because it makes the audience more fearful, hence the point of a thriller.

In conclusion, audience feedback is very useful to know how you are doing with your thriller opening sequence. The good things allow you to understand what you should keep in your film, and the things that they mention to improve are things that you need to look back at to see if you agree. If you do agree, then you have to change it so that the audience are happy with what you have created. I understand how useful feedback can be especially to the film industry, for example, if a sequel was to be created, they would know exactly what they should add to the next film which would then make the people who didn't like or had some problems with the first film would then still give the sequel a go.

Group Meetings - Miss Georgiou

A group meeting is the coming together of several people, who all have the same aims and objectives. The purpose of group meetings is to develop ideas, to be able to plan and we are able to make decisions together. They are essential to carry out because it allows groups to come together and build teamwork skills. It helped us to create our production because we were able to incorporate our ideas within the sequence so myself and my partner, Krista were both happy with how it turned out. It also allowed us to think about things carefully before we started our filming so that we made sure we were certain with our ideas and what we wanted to include. The strengths of the group meetings were that it allowed us to include all of the ideas that we had an combine them to make an even stronger sequence, however, sometimes we didn't agree with eachother which let our teamwork down slightly as we couldn't decide on what to do. However, in the end we both agreed with all of the ideas.

When carrying group meetings, i have learnt that it is important to think carefully about all of the decisions that you make, so that you are thinking about how well the production will look when you have included it. I have learnt that you must always listen to your partner because they may have a good idea, but if you do not listen, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to make your film even better. When working with Krista, i think we had our ups and downs. Sometimes, we would work very well, but sometimes, when the clips didn't look exactly as we had hoped, we would get very stressed as there are deadlines that we have to stick to. In the beginning, the filming went completely wrong, however, in the end, the filming looked more professional and i believe this shows. Next time, i would make sure that i hire actors that will take the role we have given seriously, i would also make sure that i do not hire anyone that we know well, this way we do not get distracted when they are around. This allows less time to be wasted as the clips will have been completed and there will be no reason to have to re film those clips, so this will give us more time to do our editing, which then allows us to get a good grade as we will have had time to get as much criticism as possible which we would then take on board and then get an even better grade.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

When creating a film, people need to be allocated specific roles so that this keeps things on set a lot easier as everyone focuses on the job they have been asked to undertake. Everything is then organised when filming so this allows everything to be done quickly. The fact that everyone has a particular job that they have to focus on, this allows pressure to be taken off as they don't have to worry about anyone else's role. Within the film industry, there are certain roles that are filled. For example, the most popular role within film making is the producer. This is the person who takes care of the finance involved as well as the person who manages the way the film is made. This role is important because they are the ones that make the film look the way it does, so, if there wasn't a producer, there wouldn't be a film. The next role is the director. The director is the person who watches the actors/actresses and tells them what they must do next. The next role is the actor(s), these are the people who act in front of the camera and play characters within the film. A screenplay writer is the role of the person who forms the script that the actors will use. Within the film industry, these are the main roles. 

Krista took on a variety of roles. When everything was discussed, we agreed quickly that i should do the filming as Krista is the main actress in the film. So, this would be her main role within the sequence as it would have been hard for her to film as well as take on a role. Within the editing stage, Krista took on the role of finding and adding sounds to final cut pro x. She was also responsible for creating the opening credits which would appear on the screen as the film started. I believe that she did the editing role well because she was able to find sounds that would appeal to the audience and allow them to feel certain emotions when watching our thriller opening sequence. When filming the first time, Krista wasn't taking anything seriously when filming the first time because she knew the people that were acting and therefore wasn't concentrating on what was important, which was filming. Krista is more creative and can think outside the box, therefore, her creating the opening credits was very good.

 I took on a variety of roles when creating our thriller opening sequence, for example, the director was mostly me due to the fact that Krista was in the film, so it was hardly fair to ask her to do this as well. During the editing stage, I took on the role of cropping down each part of the clips that had mistakes within them and changing the way the film looked so that each clip fitted well together. I also cut down the clips if they were too long which then made the opening sequence look more professional and better for the audience to watch. I believe that overall, I took on my roles quite well, as I filmed well the second time around, and I made sure to use the tripod throughout the whole filming process, this then avoided any jagged, shaky looking images to appear when looking back at the clips I created on final cut pro x. During the editing stage, I believe that I worked well and concentrated throughout, therefore less time was wasted and it was easier for me to understand what I had to do in order to make the film as good as possible. When we filmed the first time, I found it difficult to film as I had forgotten that you need to use the tripod at all times, this therefore meant that the editing was delayed because we were asked to re film the whole of our sequence due to lack of quality and due to the fact that it looked very unprofessional, so this therefore wasted a large amount of our time.

Apart from myself and Krista, there was another person involved during the film making. This was Harry Donoghue. Harry took on the role of the main character within our thriller opening sequence. He was very significant to our storyline because if we didn't have him, our storyline would have had to be changed. He took it seriously most of the time which then allowed us to finish it very quickly as he didn't waste any time. A benefit to using Harry in our thriller opening sequence was that he does drama as an A level, which therefore makes him brilliant at acting, this allowed our film to gain quality and look professional. When filming, at times, Harry didn't concentrate as much as we would have liked him to. When filming the scene in which 'Mark' received a text from 'C', Harry took a long time to choose the right ringtone that he wanted to use when he received this text. So, this wasted some time.


In conclusion, we allocated different roles to each other due to the fact that they were chosen based on the strengths and weaknesses that each person had. As previously stated, i wasn't very good at filming when creating our first take of the film, as i had forgotten that we needed to use the tripod to add the professional look. I think that the editing part of the film was well conducted by both of us as we took this seriously in order to get it done quickly, but not too quickly that it didn't look and sound good. Next time, I will make sure that we hire actors that take the thriller opening sequence seriously, that way no time is wasted and this will allow us more time to do other things such as editing etc.

Filming Schedule - Miss Georgiou

Filming schedules are produced so that the group members know what exactly is happening in each frame. It states where and when each part of the film will be shot, so that the producers know exactly what must happen. It also allows you to make sure you know what to include such as iconography and the different costumes that are needed. In doing this, the filming is more organised and therefore is quickly done. This then saves time. Below is my filming schedule;

When filming, the filming schedule came into use as we followed most of what was on it. However, in some parts we didn't use it, i think this was due to lack of concentration. When we had filmed everything, we started editing, and when reviewing what we had done so far, we were asked to re film as the film looked too shaky. Therefore, we will film again and follow our filming schedule in order to create a great opening thriller sequence. When filming again, i will be able to concentrate more as we have hired new actors, who take drama as an a level and this will therefore make the film look better aswell as serious because those actors will take their role seriously. I have learnt to follow the filming schedule completely in order not to miss any key frames/camera angles out so that the audience can understand what is going on completely. When filming the first time, we did not include any additional shots, this was because it took so long to do, all we were thinking about was finishing it before it got too late. I am glad we are being given the chance to re film because i want to get the best grade that i can get.

I have learnt that the role of the filming schedule is significant when filming because it allows you to waste less time thinking about what you are doing next and you can just film each part quickly and efficiently.I have also learnt that you must always stick to your filming schedule in order to know where you are and what you need to do next. Next time, i will make sure that i definitely stick to the filming schedule because as mentioned, it will really help me to save time and know what i have to do next instead of guessing. I will also make sure that i follow it the schedule at all times so that i don't miss out any important scenes/shots. I have to make sure that i do this, so that i can give the audience what they want.

Opening Scene Narration - Miss Miller

When making the individual storyboards, i came up with the final ideas that i wanted to use within it by picturing and imagining exactly what i wanted and how i wanted it to happen. When visualizing it, it is a lot easier to think about what you want rather than just jotting it down on paper. Myself and my partner, Krista, came up with our final ideas within the group storyboard by combining hers as well as mine so that we felt as though we were a team and that most of our ideas were included. This made us happy as there wasn't anyone whose ideas were used more.

Our opening thriller sequence will begin with a combination of both canted angles and POV shots to show the character slowly waking up from his unconscious state. The first camera technique we will be using is the POV shot to show the hit man being held hostage, as well as looking around to attempt to understand where he is. The second camera angle we will be using is the canted angle to highlight the confusion of the character. The angle being canted shows them that he is not stable, much like the camera itself. Iconography within this scene is masking tape and rope tying hit man down. The use of this being shown from the canted angle will again show that he is confused, but it will also show the confusion of the character as he is tied up. This will be shown at the beginning of the sequence so that many questions are asked straight from the beginning. Within this frame, non digetic sound will be used to play the sinister music in the scene. The use of sinister music within this frame connotes that something bad is going to happen. It is almost like a warning. We will aim to use flashes as our editing style, the use of the flashing will be used when the opening credits come upon the screen. The flashing allows tension and excitement to build up. The lighting that we are using within our first frame as well as in most of the other frames is low key lighting. 

In the next frame, high angle shots will be used to show the hostage getting up and trying to adjust to his surroundings. Of course, the audience will see him untie himself first, as well as take the masking tape off of his mouth. The flashes will be present within this frame as it shows the tension and excitement building up.Within this frame, the use of sinister music will be used again to show the hostage attempting to get up.Iconography within this part remains the same because the frame hasn't changed, so no new characters have been introduced yet. Again, the lighting remains the same, low key lighting.

In the third frame, the audience will be shown the face of the hostage using close ups. The facial expression of the character will be fear as well as frustration and confusion because he is unaware of where he is. Within this frame, there is no iconography because the hostage has broken free for the masking tape as well as the rope as his frustrations allow him to break free. Again, the flashes will be present and these will be used for dramatic effect and the tension is built up as the flashes make it obvious that something is going to happen and it is leading up to it. The sound remains the same.

In the fourth frame, POV will be used from the hostage's perspective to show the antagonist walking in and address his hostage clutching an envelope comes up to the hostage and looks straight into his eyes menacingly before giving an evil laugh. Iconography is seen within this scene when the antagonist walks into the room, the mask that he wears is iconography as it is an object that when seen, will be focused on. Another element within this category is the envelope containing the money, photos and an address note. Within this frame, the flashing will still be present to continue the element of tension. In the fifth frame, the audience witness the antagonist telling his accomplice what exactly he needs to do for him and what his reward will be and this will be shown using a two shot. Within this frame, no new iconography is introduced. Again, non digetic sound also takes a main role within this scene because the use of sinister music will be present, it creates certain emotions for the viewers. Within the editing category, we have decided we would like to use a straight cut to join two scenes together to maintain continuity.

In the next frame, the audience see the man being paid and shown photographs of his victim as he agrees without hesitation to kill the antagonists wife. This will be shown with an over the shoulder shot. The iconography within this frame changes, the audience will now see an envelope containing money and photographs. The sound used within this piece is silence to create tension. As for editing, this part will be shot reverse shot, so it will be shown as a conversation is going on. The seventh frame contains many elements, the first of which is mid shot to show body language. The iconography within this frame is exactly the same, except for the fact that the audience can now see what is inside the envelope. For example, they will see an envelope containing money and photographs, house keys on key chain, knife, address written on note. In this part, the audience are introduced to the sound of the antagonist talking.

The next frame within my piece will be using shallow focus. Shallow focus is when you can only see the main subject of the shot, and the rest is blurry. This will be used to show the antagonist giving weapons the hit man should use to carry out his evil deed as well as the house keys in order to let himself into the home him and his wife share The sound that will be played is sinister music, as previously stated this allows tension to be built up. The use of the jump cut will be used when we edit because it allows one scene to go to another.

In the 9th frame, a long shot will be used to portray the hit man leaving the unknown location looking around to gather his bearings unsure of who and where he is. Again, sinister music will be played in the background to fear the audience. 

Within the 10th frame, mid shot will be used to focus upon the hitman as he decides to call a taxi that will take him to the murder location. Screaming will be played in the background.

In the next frame, the camera shot we will be using is close up. A close up is when the face of the character is zoomed in, often to see the emotion/expression that they are making. The iconography within this frame does change, it will now be the phone, this will be used to show the hitman calling a taxi which then takes him to the house. The lighting within this scene is high key lighting to portray a realistic setting. The sounds the audience will hear is silence, this creates and tension. The speech of the character will scare the audience as it will sound deep and sinister. 

In the 12th frame, POV will be used to show the hitman walking towards the house of the wife and antagonist's wife. The iconography changes again, the keys that the antagonist gave the hitman will now be shown as he is holding them in his hand, preparing to open the door. Sinister music will be played in the background. 

Within the next frame, POV will be used again to show the hitman entering the house of the antagonist and his wife. The iconography is again the keys as the hitman opens the door to the house. The sinister music will be building up in the background, much like the tension.

In the fourteenth frame, the audience will show the hitman sneak up to the wife who is cleaning the dishes in the house. This will be shown with an over the shoulder shot. 

In the 15th frame, long shot will be showing the whole seen that is going on as the hitman is behind woman and raises his knife behind her.. The iconography changes again, it will be a knife.

In the next frame, over the shoulder will be used to show the wife turning around and screaming as she drops the plate. Over the shoulder shows the viewers seeing the whole situation without the hitman knowing. This keeps it a secret from the hitman, almost like the antagonist and hitman hiding the killing from everyone. The iconography within this scene is the knife and plate, the use of both of these objects give the audience the elements of shock and suspense as they are waiting for the bad thing to happen. This frame will be a reaction shot because the viewers will see the expression of the wife as she turns around. The sounds that the audience will hear are the smashing of plates.

In the 17th frame, the zoom in shot will be used to show the hitman holding the knife in the air and grabbing the woman as he prepares to stab her. The iconography in this frame is the knife and this will be shown which will alarm the audience. Timings of shots will be used. Within the next frame, the zoom out shot will be used when the hitman stabs the woman multiple times. The screaming will be used as the sound that the audience hear, this will make them fearful as they cannot see what is happening to the woman but can connote that the hitman is killing her. In the next frame, shallow focus will be used to show the screaming stopping and the dead body being shown on the screen. The use of shallow focus will allow the audience to only be shown the body so that they can understand what has happened. The kuleshov effect will be used to show this. The 20th frame will show the hitman calling the antagonist to tell him that the deed has been done. This will be shown with a mid shot so that the audience can see the whole scene. The iconography within this frame is the phone, which is of course used to call the antagonist. The next frame will use over the shoulder shots to show the antagonist opening the door as he enters the home. The only iconography used within this frame are the keys of the antagonist, the music played will be closing music, this will connote to the audience that it is nearly the end. The editing that will be added will be a montage so the audience can see various images displayed upon the screen. The 22nd frame will show the hitman sitting on the stairs of the antagonists home as he is rethinking his actions. High angle will be used to show this. No iconography is used within this frame. The next frame will show a the hitman and the antagonist shaking hands as the hitman leaves. This will be shown with a two shot. The two shot will be used so that the audience can see the body language of both characters. Closing music will be heard again to show the audience that the sequence is coming to an end. The last frame will use a zoom in shot to show the face of the antagonist as he stands above the body of his dead wife and smiles. No iconography is used within this frame and the lighting is again low key. The editing we have decided to use within the last part is a fade out, this will be used to show the audience that the film has ended.

Explaining the opening scene narration has helped finalize my group's idea because we were able to agree with what would work best when filming the opening sequence. We were able to visualize as well as discuss our ideas so that most of our ideas were included within the piece. It has helped me understand that i need to use the group storyboards as well as this opening scene narration when filming so that i am able to create the perfect thriller sequence and so that no time is wasted trying to remember what needed to happen in each scene. 

Group Storyboard - Miss Miller

The purpose of a group storyboard is to allow all group members to put in some of their own ideas into the thriller sequence so that it is fair and they feel as though they are part of the film making. When each member created the individual storyboards, the ideas were varied for each person. Within the group storyboard, you include a range of ideas from everyone and put them into the same storyboard. Myself and Krista have looked at each of our individual storyboards and both agreed that there were some fantastic ideas from both. We decided on the best features of each one by working together and visualizing each frame to allow ourselves to understand if what we had wanted to do would work or not.

Myself and Krista have created a group storyboard in order to understand what we needed to do when producing our film. Creating the storyboard will allow us to stay on track when filming so that we don't fall behind. It will also help us not to get confused when we are in the filming process and can understand each frame well. We have included different frames from each other's storyboards so that the creativity was extended and varied, having just one persons ideas would be boring and would only allow that person to understand fully what they are doing. Having two people's ideas within is easier as each person can explain what they mean and it will allow the film to go smoother when being created.

Within storyboard frame number 1, my partner Krista and I both incorporated our ideas to come up with frames number 1 and 2. This is when the hitman wakes up in an unknown area unaware of where he is and who he is. This part was my idea. However, the idea that Krista had was for the man to be tied up and have masking tape on his face.  He wakes up tied up with masking tape on his mouth. Within this part of the storyboard, we had used mostly Krista's ideas for camera shots. I do not think this is unfair due to the fact that when we reviewed eachother's ideas, i believe that her ideas made more sense than mine did. I also noticed that we both had the same idea to use flashing within this part of the scene to add excitement and tension to the audience. Krista's ideas for sound were better when comparing hers to mine so we decided to use hers as they were various and imaginative.

Again, Krista's ideas were mostly used for the narrative in this part, however, my ideas were used when i explained in my storyboard that the hitman should be given money and an address note. The first frame hadn't even been created within my storyboard as i had started my second one showing the antagonist paying the hitman then the hitman agrees to kill the woman. We went with krista's idea because we both  believe that it will grip the audience more if we add on more detailed frames. I noticed that myself and Krista's storyboards were the same for the lighting category as we had both chosen to use low key lighting.

When i told my partner the idea of the hitman calling a taxi to get to the house of the female victim, she agreed as it allowed the audience to build up the tension as they know that the killing scene is coming up. My ideas of camera shots were used in frames 11 and 12 as they were the most useful when creating these types of scenes. The frames 9 and 10 were ideas from Krista. We both agreed that there wouldn't be a variety of editing within this scene. This will allow the audience to focus when watching as there will be nothing distracting them. Our ideas were different for the sound category as i had wanted the hitman leaving to have silence, however Krista wanted sinister music, and eventually i agreed with this because it will show the audience that he is becoming evil, the sinister music prepares them for what is to come.

When looking at storyboard page number 4, my idea of having POV as a camera angle was used because it would show the audience where he is. Mine and Kristas were both similar one frame number 13 as i had said that i would like sinister music to be played, Krista's idea was to have the music building up slowly, so we incorporated both of our ideas. Within frames 14 and 15, Krista's camera shot ideas were used as they made more sense to the story and the audience. We had both decided to use low key lighting within our storyboard as it is approaching a dark scene. The editing ideas were Krista's as i didn't write any down because i had no ideas for that category.


Krista's narrative idea was used within frame 17 as it shows the aggressiveness of the hitman within this scene. My idea was for the hitman to hold the knife high in the air. The use of screaming as a sound was included within both of our storyboards as it is necessary to show the fear and emotions of the female victim. Krista's idea for shallow focus was used for frame number 19 as it allows the audience to focus on the dead body, this shows the state of the female victim.

Within storyboard page number 6, which shows the last scene, low key was incorporated, which was both myself and my partners idea which we included on our own storyboards. It was Krista's idea to use screaming voices in frame number 22, this allows the audience to feel even more fear. The closing music was also Krista's idea to incorporate within the sound category for our opening sequence as connotes to the audience that it is almost the end. The use of montage editing in frame 21 was Krista's idea.

Overall, i think our storyboard is strong as it incorporates both of our ideas. We are both stronger at different categories, therefore making it easier for us to agree on which elements we should include in each frame. There is nothing i would change within the group storyboard as myself and Krista both got our ideas across and each person managed to state why the elements they chose should be used and so it was easier for each person to agree with what would look better. 

Risk Assessment - Miss Georgiou

Risk assessments are created and carried out during the planning stage. The purpose of creating a risk assessment is to identify potential risks and hazards that could occur when filming. In doing so, it allows moderate harm to target the actors and crew that are involved. It also allows you to decide if you have already done everything to make sure that potential harming is avoided and kept to a moderate level of fatality. You identify the risks and problems, and you evaluate how they can be solved or avoided.

During the planning stage of our thriller opening sequence, we carried out a risk assessment to evaluate the potential problems that could occur when creating out film so that no one was harmed. The risk assessment I created can be seen below;

As you can see, i have analysed all the potential risks/hazards that could occur if myself and Krista weren't careful with the way we filmed and set everything up when creating our opening sequence. Creating this risk assessment allowed me to really think about all the problems that I and my partner could face if we weren't being careful. Without completing this risk assessment, i believe that over half of these problems could have occured. I now know how i must stay safe when filming.

When filming our first piece, which we have been asked to re film, we encountered no major risks which is a good thing as we didn't waste any time. Our main scare was that someone would be injured with the breaking of the plate, the small parts could have cut someone badly. The only issue that we did face was that when the person was stabbing the woman with a knife, he cut her top open slightly, however, this didn't affect our film as the torn part was hidden away. When re filming, we will avoid this small issue by making sure the knife is not near the body as the character stabs her.

In conclusion, I have learnt that risk assessments are very useful to create when making a thriller sequence because they allow you to think about what could go wrong and if something bad does happen, you are able to  look back to your risk assessment table so you are aware of what you must do to fix the problem that you may face. Next time when we film, i would make sure that the camera is fully charged all the time, that way we do not have to stop filming due to the fact that we forgot to charge it the night before. Also, we need to make sure that we don't film when it is too light, because we agreed that there should be low key lighting during most of the scenes. This would allow time to be saved as we wouldn't have to edit the background colour.