Feedback on Film Rough Cut

I found the feedback from my target audience very useful. They allowed me to see how I can change my film to make it more realistic and appealing to them and others of a similar age. They indicated that I should try and put filters on some of my shots to make them darker as many of them are too bright, this is something I will hopefully achieve to make my film more appropriate for the thriller genre. Someone raised the idea of adding more transitions which is something I will think about doing, if I can find convincing transitions and not really extravagant ones as I feel this will ruin the tense mood/vibe that my film attempts to give off. Everyone that gave feedback seemed to like the music used in my film so I will keep that how it is. The typography was praised so I will keep the same typography and effects yet I will add a few more titles as I feel my film has too few.

Rough Cut Feedback- 3

Rough Cut Feedback- 2

Rough Cut Feedback- 1

This is the first person I interviewed about what changes I should make to the rough cut of my film. Indya is a teenager and therefore she fits in to my target audience. It was very helpful to get feedback from people that fit into my target audience group as they will know what they like to watch and what improvements I should make to my film to make it into a product that appeals to them.

Film Title Font

This is the font I have picked out for the title of my film. This font is white and will appear on a black background. I feel this is effective as it stands out and is clear and easy to read. The white font on a black background screen is conventional of the thriller genre, many films of this genre use this effect for their film titles. I feel this title follows the conventions of titles in a thriller film well. This title uses the 'experience' effect from :Livetype. A white flash passes across each letter quickly from left to right (this flash effect can be seen on the letter 'H' in the screenshot of the title.) This effect is similar to the effect used on the title for the popular thriller film 'Gone Baby Gone'. This film is similar to mine in ways and therefore I have researched the film to gather information on appropriate titles and used ideas from it to help create my own.

Title Option 2

This is my the second option for my main film title. I think that this black colour looks effective as black is conventional of darkness and sadness which are two emotions that my film intends to make the audience feel. However this can't appear on a black background which I think is the most effective colour for the background to be. Also, many thriller film titles (in films that have similar narratives to mine) are in a white font and I want to stick to these conventions as far as possible.

Title option 1

This is the first title option I have for my film. This title will appear using a typewriter effect. I think this is good because the typewriter effect is conventional of thriller films often with some kind of police narrative and my film fits that description. However the typewriter effect is the effect I have used for the other titles in my film and I think it might be good for the actual name of my film to differ from the other titles included. I'm not sure about the red colour in this title as I worry that red is too conventional of the horror genre because it connotes blood and danger. Therefore I think I may have to go away and re-edit this font or pick a different font entirely.

Film Title

I have decided to call my film 'Hunted'. I think this title ties in well with my narrative as my antagonist goes around hunting teenage girls. This title sounds quite appropriate for the thriller genre. For example I have chosen a name similar to the popular thriller film 'Taken.' I think my title is very effective as it is one word and the word is quite dramatic and straight to the point. The name gives insight into the narrative, yet doesn't reveal the whole story line so it is mysterious and leaves the audience wanting to know more about the film.

Chosen Sound

The sound I have chosen to be used as non diegetic sound in the background of most of my film opening is soundtrack 1. I feel this soundtrack was the most appropriate in representing the thriller genre and in creating a tense and eerie feel to my film. Also this soundtrack is quiet enough for me to add sound effects over the top of it, yet not so quiet that you can't hear it. However this soundtrack was too short to last for my whole film so I decided to add soundtrack 3 in at the end of my film. I think both of these tracks fit in well together. Soundtrack 3 is used at the end of the film and it gets increasingly louder to build tension and then cuts out quickly to just silence. I feel this is a good transition and will emphasis the suspense of the film.

Sound option 3

This is my third soundtrack option. I like the mood this soundtrack creates and I think this would be appropriate for the build up to the ending of my film opening as the sound increases and as it gets louder it gets more dramatic. So this would be a good soundtrack to use right before or after the character is kidnapped. I do think the ending of the track has slight connotations of the horror genre as the screeching noise could represent a supernatural phenomenon, however if used correctly it could also represent the thriller genre successfully.

Sound option 2

This is the second soundtrack option for my thriller film opening. I think that this track creates an unsettling and eerie feeling and would be appropriate in making the audience nervous which is what my film aims to do. However I think that the louder parts of the soundtrack where the other instruments fade in and out is not appropriate for the mood of my film. The other musical parts make the soundtrack sound like it would be more appropriate for an action/adventure type film possibly with connotations of a pirate narrative. I think that the quieter parts of this soundtrack create the correct mood of the character feeling uneasy, yet the louder parts ruin the tense mood the first part of the soundtrack creates.

Sound option 1

This is the first soundtrack option I have chosen for my film. I feel that this soundtrack is simple yet creates a dramatic and eerie vibe which is what I want the audience to feel when they watch my film opening. The music is slow yet gets slightly louder at the end which adds suspense to the film. I think the soundtrack is appropriate for the thriller genre as it is unnerving and full of suspense yet it isn't too upbeat and loud like a lot of soundtracks used in action films. 

List of Titles

• Film Company name/ident
• From the producers of.....
• Actors 
• Casting
• Music
• Costume 

The film company name and the "from the producers of" titles will appear on a black screen at the start of my film, the rest of the titles will appear over my shots in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. 

Font Option 1

This is my first font option for my film titles. The effect I have placed over this title is the type writer effect. These titles will appear in the bottom left hand corner of the screen and will type on and then off of the screen. My film's protagonist is a police officer so the typing effect gives connotations of the police narrative and the thriller genre. This is a popular effect for the titles of films within the thriller genre.

Filters- Editing

Many of the shots in my film are too sunny and bright and therefore don't fit in well with the thriller genre because it makes the film seem too happy and upbeat. To solve this I am attempting to put filters on certain shots to make them darker and less bright. However it is very difficult to find the correct filter without making the shots look too over edited. I will keep playing around with the different filters and hopefully find one with the correct balance of light and dark colours.

Editing Film

I struggled with my editing today as when I imported my re-filmed shots on to my Final Cut document, they mixed with my original shots so I had to go through all of my shots and decide which ones I needed. Other than that my editing is going fairly well, I think the shots I have re-filmed are more realistic and give more insight into my films narrative and the idea that someone is following my character. Hopefully I can fit all of my shots together with transitions to look realistic and to have appropriate continuity.

Rough Cut of Film- Overview

This is the first rough cut of my film. I have decided to make a lot of changes to my film. First of all the ending is far too rushed so I am going to re-film a lot of that to make it look more realistic and more intense. The first minute is quite boring as it includes a lot of shots of just my character walking through a field with not much really happening. To overcome this I'm going to change, not all of my shots, but re-film some scarier looking shots that give more of a feeling of the character being followed. These shots may include some feet with big boots coming out through the bushes, or a blurred figure in the distance. I need to re-film the shot of the victims feet as she is dragged into the car as I feel it looks too unrealistic and staged, to make it look more realistic I may actually ask someone to pull her into the car. Many of my shots are too jumpy and need transitions in between them so my film flows better. I'm going to try and use an effect on the camera to film a shot of my character walking along the road with a blurred car in the background. I think once I have added these effective transitions and re-filmed parts to make the film more interesting and convincing, then my media product will be considerably better.

Shot of Bag

This is a screen shot taken from the rough cut of my film on final cut. I have decided that I have to re-film this shot of the bag left on the street. The bag in this shot looks too neatly positioned which makes the shot look unrealistic. If someone actually dropped their bag on the street it wouldn't be placed upright and neatly like this. Therefore, in order to make my film look more realistic for the thriller genre I have decided to re-film this shot along with a few others.