Q6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Q6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the filming of our thriller film, I learnt many things about how to compose a good shot. One aspect I learnt about composing a good shot was making sure that throughout the filming there was continuity. To make sure this happened we had to film the car starting and stopping in exactly the same position each time we shot it. This was difficult to do but we used objects to show where to start and stop the car, therefore the continuity was portrayed well. We used continuity throughout our thriller opening which allowed us to edit it without the camera changing angles and confusing the viewer.

 

Before filming we also learnt about the 180° rule. This rule makes sure the audience does not get confused or the actors do not seem to change places. To make sure the 180° rule was not broken we decided we would always film from the right hand side of the car. When we wanted to film from another angle we moved the camera whilst filming. This was to make it clear to the audience that the camera had been moved and therefore the audience would not be confused.

 

To create mystery around the villain we watched multiple films which had a villain similar to the one in our film. We watched films such as ‘Cape Fear’ and ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ to see which shots where used and how they create mood and atmosphere around the villain. We then decided that the best way to make the villain mysterious was to make sure the villains face was not shown throughout the opening sequence. This makes the audience question who this villain is and why he kidnaps the girl.

 

When editing we learnt how to use IMovie. We learnt how to crop videos so that if something was in the frame that shouldn’t have been we were able to crop it out. To do this we pressed the crop tool and changed what was shown in the frame of the particular shot. This also allowed us to use more close ups by cropping the shot to just show characters faces.

 

Another technique I learnt was how to use transitions effectively. This is shown in our thriller opening when the first shot fades to white. We decided to fade this shot to white because it showed the shot as a memory which was slowly fading away. We chose to fade this shot to white instead of black as white has connotations of innocence and so shows the way in which the character shown in the shot (the child) is very innocent and her memory must be an important part of the storyline.

 

To make our thriller have aspects of other subgenres I decided to add in a black and white effect. This is a common feature in film noir, however I believe using it to show when the villain was watching the car was an effective way to create mood and atmosphere. The black and white effect made the viewer see the comparison between the white dress the girl was wearing, which shows purity, and the black coat the villain was wearing. Also the car which we used was white which shows cleanliness and purity. We used a white car because as well as the connotations connected to it, the shot below shows the villain running past the car in very dark clothing which covers the white car. This shows that the villain is changing the way in which the car, and possibly the girl inside, is not as pure anymore.

 

We also had to think about the ways in which the weather could affect the continuity of our thriller. As we filmed in the early morning the sky gradually got lighter and so when editing this lead to some continuity difficulties, because some of the shots which are supposed to be near the end were lighter than the shots near the beginning. However due to us shooting each shot 4 or 5 times we could use the shots which kept the continuity through how light or dark they were.

 

Another aspect we had to factor into filming was the road we used. We decided to film on a road which was very rarely used. This allowed us to film along this road without any other cars getting into the frame and also allowed us to place the camera on the road if we needed to film from in front or behind the car. If we had filmed on a busy road we would have had to move the camera and may not have had continuity of where we filmed from.