Small Feed Back

Today, we showed a few members of our class the progress we have made with filming and asked them to give us some feedback. The video in progress is the one below. They couldn't make any comments on the sound because this is still being worked on and needs to be added to our film soon, however they did say that they believed that it takes too long to start and there isn't much going on at the beginning and they were losing interest until the main character lights the match. This is when it picked up pace and they especially liked the different angle shots and the slow motion of the cigarette hitting the floor. They also understood the flashbacks and could understand them which is very important to us as we were wondering whether this would be picked up and understood, but now we know we can focus solely on the start of the opening knowing that the ending is good.
We will be filming a full evaluative discussion of our opening sequence once it has been completed and this will give complete feedback and also give an insight into what I enjoyed myself and what I enjoyed doing as part of a team.

Group Opening Sequence in Progress

My Response to Footage and Overall Piece

Now that I have seen all of our footage placed together and seen the opening sequence edited, it looks as good as, if not better than what I had originally imagined. Even though, we had to change a few of the scenes and shots we had originally intended to use, I believe it still looks as good as it would have with the other scenes. I particularly like the shot of the cigarette falling to the floor in slow motion as it is different and the sparks it creates make it more interesting to watch. The fact that it also leads to a flashback as it hits the floor makes it more interesting and what also makes it one of my favourite shots. The other shot that I particularly like is the low angle shot of the killer right at the end, from the point of view of the victim. It is also a different shot and adds more variety to the opening sequence. Its also a different way of showing the audience how someone is killed instead of a standard shot from the side or at the same height as the killer.
The opening sequence overall, I believe, makes the audience ask questions and want to know what will happen next. It doesn't reveal much about the film that follows, but in a way this is a good thing as it makes the audience want to stay and watch more. It has met my expectations and as a group we have shared responsibilities and ideas, not letting one person take control over everybody else.

Choosing a Name for Our Film

After much discussion over the naming of our film, we have finally decided on 'Possession'. We had a few words in discussion, such as, 'I love you', 'Deception' and 'She Loves Me Not', but when these were placed at the end of our opening, they didn't seem to place as well as 'Possession'.
The writing is written in red to fit in with the blood and death theme of our opening and i also suggested to try and make the red spread across the writing as the gun shot goes off to look like the spread of blood from the character as well as the spread of colour into the title.
The actual name, 'possession', resembles what the rest of our films storyline features, about the character wanting to 'possess' the female character who features later on. The style that the writing is written in also resembles the hand writing of the character because of his mental state and the anger that he is showing; the cause of this being his mental state.

Completion of filming

We have now completed all of our filming and can now focus fully on the editing and getting our opening sequence finished on time. We encountered a few problems on location, with vital props, such as a lamp post being removed from the length of street we were using, and then trying to find the correct lighting from another lamp post further up the street. However, we were able to get the lighting similar and there was no problem with the continuity as the way we filmed it, made the street look similar to the parts we had filmed before.
There was also a change to our second flashback and instead of a proposal we are using a close up of a girls lips and a boys lips saying 'I love you'. To distinguish between the girl and boy, I wore red lipstick and we have edited this shot so it is black and white, yet the red lips are still in colour to fit in with the themes of love and blood that run through the film. It also fits with the colour of the title that appears at the end of the opening. We had a slight problem with this and had to move the clip over to a different programme to edit and then exported it back over.

Changes in the Sequence

As we haven't finished filming the rest of our sequence after encountering problems with the shadows and weather, we have decided to finish our filming tonight in the same location at a similar time, to keep with the continuity of the location and natural lighting.
Because of the problems with filming the shadow sequence, we decided to change our sequence. after someone suggested that we see the stabbing in person instead of in a shadow, I suggested that the victim drops his cigarette and we show a close up of the cigarette falling in slow motion and then show the flashbacks as the cigarette hits the floor.
I am hoping to take part in the role of filming more tonight than I did last time, especially as a member of our group may not be present.