'The Girls' Amy Leadbitter Evaluation

Today we watched a short independent thriller film called 'The Girls'. This film focuses on paedophobia, and it could even be leaning towards schizophrenia. Stereotypes are broken in this film, and roles can even be seen as reversed.


To begin with, the mood was very chilled, and just like a normal day, but as it progressed we could see that the mood was really very disturbing and twisted. Despite all that was happening in the film, there was always a sense of innocence. This comes from the girls' attitude through 'playing with their dad' and the attitude the father had when he started playing with his daughters, which was light hearted, and he was just chasing them around the garden, just like a normal father and daughter would do.

Throughout the whole film, there was ambient lighting, as it was filmed outside. This did not add any tension or suspense; it gave the sense that this was just two girls playing outside. Even while the girls were hitting their dad and pushing him down to the river. The end of the film was the only time it was dark;the father was still outside after being pushed in the river.

The characters in this film have very conflicting personalities. The father is not expecting anything out of the ordinary, so he is relatively relaxed. The girls' personalities change throughout the film. At the beginning, they seem innocent when they are playing in the garden, but this changes when we see one of them playing with their dolls. She uses them to act as herself and a psychic, and she acts out a palm reading. She says "I see death and destruction" and drops the dolls without a second thought, like she is possessed. When they start playing with their father, they 'change' back to being innocent and care free, but soon change back when they start tying up their father and beating him with a rake.

The props in this film add to the feel of it a great deal. The rake plays an important role, since this is when we first see that the girls are not normal; when she hits the dog. They also use the rake to hit their father. The blindfold and hand ties are also very symbolic. This shows that he cannot see his little girls, only the girls that are hurting him, and he cannot do anything about it. The dolls symbolise innocence, and when they are dropped, so is the girl's innocence.

The role of the authority figure is challenged in this film. To begin with, the father is the authority figure, and is controlling what is happening and what games are played, but as the film progresses, the audience sees that the girls are taking over the role of the authority figure by tying their father's hands and blindfolding him, so he does not know what is going on. The authority figure also changes at the end of the film, when their mother comes home. The girls 'change back' to being innocent, and when the mother asks where their father is, they give an innocent answer and say that he 'decided to go and sit by the river'.

I think that this film adds a very disturbing twist to a perfectly innocent, everyday activity, and it also shows what people can be like when left alone. This has a very interesting feel and it is a very good example of a paedophobic thriller.

The Simpsons - Cape Fear (Amy Leadbitter)

In the early 60's J. Lee Thomson directed a film called 'Cape Fear'. In the early 90's, this film was remade with the same name, and again in the 90's, The Simpsons remade this with a slightly different name of 'Cape Feare'.

1962 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fear_(1962_film)

1991 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fear_(1991_film)

1993 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Feare

Mood - Dark mood; murder and revenge; with a comedy twist using physical jokes.

Mise en scene

There is low key lighting when there are scenes with Sideshow Bob writing death threats to Bart Simpson and also in the movie theatre and on the house boat, when Sideshow Bob is attempting to kill Bart. The rest of the episode is relatively light. Since it is usually only dark with Sideshow Bob, it is like he is making it dark for Bart.

The non diagetic soundtrack in this episode is in a minor key and is only usually when Sideshow Bob is in the scene. The same music is used every time we see Sideshow Bob, so from that we can associate that particular music with him, and when this music is playing, it builds tension in the episode. There is not much diagetic sound, apart from everyday sounds, which does not add suspense to the episode as a whole.

In this episode, Bart Simpson spends a lot of the time nervous, or scared, and his body language shows this. He shakes and shivers a lot, and when the family is on the houseboat, Bart runs up to Homer and Marge to tell them about Sideshow Bob, and his feet are still moving very rapidly when he gets there, in a panicked fashion. His eyes are also very big in this scene.

The whole episode has the same darkness of the films, but it has a comic twist by adding light-hearted jokes. In one scene, the family has moved into a houseboat to escape from Sideshow Bob. We see Bart in his bed, tossing and turning, trying to sleep, and then the door creaks open. Homer then runs in with a knife and a oven tray and he shouts very quickly "Bart do you want a brownie before you go to bed!!". Bart screams and Homer then starts cutting the brownies into squares and talking in a relaxed voice. He then leaves, but runs back into the room brandishing a live chainsaw and wearing a hockey mask (Friday 13th), shouts "Bart do you want to see my new chainsaw and hockey mask!!". Bart screams, and Homer leaves the room embarrassed. There is also a scene in which Sideshow Bob repeatedly steps on rakes.

In my opinion, this is a strange twist of a thriller, but personally I would still class it as a thriller, due to the mise en scene and plot of the episode.

Rachel - Peer Evaluation

Positive feedback:
• Good match on action
• Music fit in well/ was appropriate
• Sense of suspense created by not revealing faces
• Shot/ reverse shot worked well
• Nice framing
• Sense of tension
• Good pace

Points to work on:
• Could have been more lighting in last shots
• Check what is in the background
• Match on action could have been better

I think that to improve our final piece we could have made it more convincing with use of costume (a darker, more serious sort of costume for both characters would have been more appropriate) and we could have edited some parts more precisely such as the part where the door closes behind Amy – it might have been more effective at the end of the tilt upwards rather than in the middle. I also have learned that we will need to use lighting in some shots to make the images more defined and that we need to remember to ensure that there are no unwanted props in the background that might create a distraction from the subject.

Peer Evaluation Feedback - Beth Reszke

After watching our videos, people in other groups said they liked these certain aspects:
-There was a good sense of suspense with the use of the storyline and shots used.
-The match on action worked well.
-The music we created was appropriate and the right volume.
-The shots were well framed.
-Our use of experimental shots was good.

Points we need to consider for next time was:
-Perfection and precision in editing the match on action, as one shot with a door opening seemed to have a delay on the match, so didn't match perfectly.
-Some lighting in shots was not as good as it could have been
-Objects in the background can distract from the action happening.

From doing this, and having feedback given on our final videos, I have learnt that we need to take more care of what the camera will see in the background of our shots, and move or find ways around avoiding distractions in the background. And also to take time to perfect the match on action and finer editing. We should also consider the use of external lighting in our next project to give out shots a more professional look.

Amy Leadbitter's Peer Evaluation Feedback

After watching our final video, others in the class said they liked these things about it.

Positive feedback
- The match on action was good
- The music was good and fitted with the atmosphere of the video
- There was a good build-up of suspense with the faces not being shown until the end
- The shot reverse shot worked well at the end
- Good framing
- Very artistic with the experimental shots

Constructive criticisms
- The continuity editing during the end match on action; the opening of the door could have been edited better
- The lighting could have been better at the end; it was very dark in the room at the end
- Pay attention to the surroundings; the walls in particular



From hearing the feedback from the class, I know how to improve for our next project. To make sure our film looks more professional, we will have to remember the white balance, take care of our surroundings and to make sure we light the shots better.

Rachel Clements - Evaluation

Evaluation

For our preliminary exercise we made a short, one minute sequence, trying to create it within the thriller genre. It was composed of cross cutting between a man in a small room and a woman walking towards the building then into the room and them meeting. We tried to add suspense by not revealing their identity and keeping their faces out of the shots. Our location was outside the building and then outside a small office which we got the key to from reception.

Using the relevant technology and Software

Through using the video camera I improved on my framing, making sure the tripod was level and learned to check the white balance before shooting at each location to ensure that the colour was accurate and realistic. I also would make sure that when doing a pan shot that I used the handle steadily and smoothly. Before shooting I would warn the rest of my group that I am about to do so by saying “Speed, Roll-over, Action!”. When editing on the Apple Mac I learned how to trim and rearrange shots to put them into the right order for the sequence and control the sound; controlling the volume of particular parts, removing some parts and using garage band to create an appropriate soundtrack.

My personal Input at each stage of the production

I contributed to the group by firstly producing the storyboard; deciding with the group how the basic sequence should be constructed and then sketching it on the storyboard templates, including the shot type, length of shot, sound (dialogue) and editing (whether there would be any fades, dissolves or just straight cuts). This is what we followed whilst shooting the footage and whilst editing, trying to keep it as close to the original idea as possible but adding in new ideas or re-thinking some parts as we completed the final piece. When filming, I took part in filming some shots. In some shots I attempted a more interesting composition by arranging the subject to the side of the frame rather than directly in the middle. I tried to make sure that all relevant images were captured within the frame; when filming Amy opening the door I framed it so that the door handle was in the right hand of the frame and her hand could come into the centre of the frame. I also filmed a shot where I panned upwards slowly, revealing Amy’s identity then a shot reverse shot of Chris and Amy looking at each other, making sure that it was within the 180° line, maintaining the continuity of the sequence. I also edited a particular part of this sequence, the part that I filmed where Amy comes through the door into the small room with Chris in, where she opens the door from the outside and it cuts to a shot from the inside of the door opening and her walking through; I tried to make this work as a match on action, keeping the cuts smooth and in time with each other so that it was not as noticeable. I think that I could have helped more with the sound created in garage band and that we as a group could have planned more precisely. I also could have helped more with the filming and it might have looked better if we’d used lighting and tried out a wider variety of shots such as canted shots or dollying.


Continuity Editing

My group demonstrated an understanding of continuity editing by researching and watching clips from films and television programmes and seeing how many shots there actually were, the techniques they used and attempted to understand how and why they used these so that we would not notice the editing. We also saw some clips where the continuity was not accurate and saw how mistakes can be made. We made sure that we filmed within the 180 degree line and that our actors wore exactly the same costumes for each day that we filmed. We tried to make sure that the shots of the second door opening from outside then inside matched up in time and that the editing was not too noticeable.

Use of Mise en Scene and camerawork

We used a small confined room as one of our locations that had red walls. This was because red is a very strong colour and has connotations of anger and danger; we used a small room because it was more claustrophobic and more of a feeling of entrapment. We found an old looking door with pieces torn from it which was very rugged looking and set the scene of a grimy sort of mood. We also shot outside when it was a murky day which also gave a grimy setting.

Points we plan to improve on for the Coursework

• Use more camera movement (dollying, panning, tracking or even some sort of interpreted crane and jib shots)
• Use a wider range of camera angles (low, high, very low/high, eagle/worm’s eye, canted shots)
• Use more interesting use of the editing such as fades or dissolves, possibly even manually altering the colour.
• Ensure that the tripod is steady
• Make sure the white balance has been corrected for each different location we shoot in.
• Create a more intense atmosphere with use of Mise en scene such as costume, hair, make up to create particular characters and locations that give a better understanding of the narrative.

Amy Leadbitter's evaluation

Individual Evaluation


New Technology
During the preliminary exercise, I learned many new techniques while using the camera and the editing software. I learned about the importance of setting the white balance every time the camera is used, and how to set up the camera properly and safely on the tripod. There were a few occasions I forgot to set the white balance and it showed on the film; it either showed up blue of yellow. I learned from that to always set the white balance when filming, not just when I think it is needed. I learned that even if it doesn’t look like the white balance needs to be set; it will show on the end product when it has and hasn’t been set, and this will make the film look like it has been thrown together instead of carefully planned and worked on. During the editing, I learned many new techniques which will help me further on in the course. I had never used iMovie to edit films before, so I found it difficult to learn how to use it, but once I had, I was able to play around with different ideas and sequences to give the film more suspense.


Personal Input
In this exercise, I was a subject in the film, and I was also an editor. I learned from acting in a film rather that acting on a stage or in front of an audience, one scene can take quite a long time to film, because of filming from many different angles. We were careful to make sure we kept to the 180 rule and that we didn’t shoot on days that had different weather than the day before, or that we filmed indoors if the weather had changed. I also learned how long it can take to edit a film that will only be a minute long, and that all of the different shots must be labelled so they can be found easily. While editing, I could not find a shot that we all agreed would help to add mystery and suspense to the scene, but because the shots were not very easily accessible, we lost the shot. During our next exercise, I will remember to label each shot or groups of shots so they can be easily found, and to make sure to film from more angles so we have more to choose from when in post production.


Understanding Continuity Editing
I paid special attention to the 180 rule, because I know how easy it is to break if you are moving from one location to another. We moved around the college campus a lot while filming, so when we set up the camera, I made sure it was always to the left of me to make sure we did not break the 180 rule. There is one point in the film where we do break the rule, but the camera follows my feet round so the audience sees how the rule is broken, so it is not just one shot and then another shot where it is being filmed from a the other side.
We used match on action twice in the film. The first time was when the male character picked up the phone. This took a while to edit, because we wanted to make sure that it looked professional and it wasn’t an obvious cut. One problem we had with this was the sound of the phone ringing. At first, we tried to match the sound that was filmed, but after realising that if we cut it too much, it would show in the scene and would look very choppy. So in the end, we decided to mute the clip and use a sound effect of a telephone ringing from GarageBand instead. The second time we used match on action was when my hand was filmed turning a door handle, and then the door opening from the other side. We edited the clip like this so it would almost be like it showed my point of view and of the male characters point of view.
We also managed to use shot-reverse shot at the end of the film when the audience finds out the identity of both of the characters. We used over-the-shoulder shots to also make it look like a point of view shot, so the audience feels like they are there in the room with the characters. Before we started filming the preliminary exercise, I didn’t know about continuity editing. When I learned about them at first, I didn’t quite understand how they could be used in our exercise, but when we started filming I could see how it could be used.


Improving for the main task
I personally think there is a lot that we as a group can improve for the main ‘Thriller’ task. In the preliminary exercise, we forgot to set the white balance every time we filmed, so I think that we should make a note of what we have to do every time we film. A lot of the time, we also didn’t shout ‘rollover’ ‘speed’ and ‘action’ when we started filming, we just yelled ‘go’. This didn’t give us much extra film to use in post production so when we were editing, we didn’t have much film to work with, and ended up spending longer than we had hoped ‘fine tuning’ and trimming shots, and we didn’t have as many shots as we had initially hoped to have. This meant that we were limited in what we could do with the film and what angles we could use. In the main task, I will be sure to film from more angles so we will have more to choose from in post production. I have learned a lot from this exercise, and I will use techniques learned here in my group’s Thriller film.

Sophia's Evalutaion

During the preliminary I learnt various techniques with both the camera and with I movie. The overall film turned out a lot better then I expected, we gathered up a lot of footage, to enable us to have a lot more options when it came to editing. Though there were still minor mistakes that we could of thought through better, little details like curtains and background settings. I didn’t really have a major role in the making of the film, just directing the group adapting our storyboard to make it slightly more interesting as I tried to take several bits of footage and it was really quite terrible also scouted for locations to use, I also updated the blog several times. On account of my terrible filming I left Beth and Rachel to do filming and Amy was our actress she also contributed a lot to the editing. As group I think we worked well together helping each other understand how to establish different shots, and inputting ideas.

Throughout the exercise I learnt how hard and how much time it took to create one minute of footage, having to film the same sequence again and again but from different positions to have sufficient amount to edit, to create a ‘match on action’ or ‘shot reverse shot’. We kept up the continuity by not filming outside when the weather was bad as our first few shots were when it was sunny and then having Amy wear the same clothes throughout the filming.

We didn’t use any artificial lighting and really only relied on natural light though I did attempt to use one of those things that the light reflects off, I don’t think it contributed much to the sequence. I was impressed with the locations we used, the fact that didn’t let on too much that we were in a college.

I was impressed with the shots that we, we paid special attention to the 180 rule and always thought about the side we were shooting from previously to then continue shooting. We also used match on action a couple of times, which were ok, though it took several minutes of footage to get enough to edit. Though the filming went well there were little details that could of been thought through like the curtains in the background.

The sounds we used are non diagetic, just a basic soundtrack and then we used the sounds that we recorded whilst we were filming, if we knew how to use garage band then we would of used that to create stronger sounds.

In conclustion, i think we all worked well together, and created a good peice of work, all contributing in some way.

Beth Reszke's evaluation of the preliminary task

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

Through undertaking the preliminary task, I have used the cameras and editing software and discovered what works well for me and what doesn’t. The outcome of this results in a complete short film, but will also have mistakes that I can learn from. Doing the preliminary exercise enables me to go on to more practical productions with enhanced knowledge and understanding of the steps taken in terms of the camera to produce a successful film.

Understanding of the technology

I have learnt how important it is to set the white balance for every different location, as the difference in colour can be seen more easily when editing, and the quality of the whole video is reduced. It is also important when using the camera to make sure it is level, and the right height intended for the shot, and to take time to think about how to make camera movement as smooth as possible (eg. Pans, tilts and tracking shots). To combat this, we took a great number of shots that were as perfect as we could so that we can choose the preferred one when editing. When helping with the editing processes, it was a program which was not familiar to us, and therefore had to experiment with it and learn how it works. We found that there was an incredibly wide range of effects that could be done using imovie, but to make our film look more professional and well put together, we decided to keep the transitions simple by using straight cuts and no special effects. I found that this was good for our film, but I am aware that these are available to us if we require them in other practical productions. (Fade transitions, for example are more likely to be used than other effects.) When it came to the final step of our video, which was adding our own soundtrack made using the garageband program, we did experience a few problems with importing our music to the video. However, we have now realised what went wrong and I feel confident about doing this in future.

My personal input to the production

My main responsibility within the group was operating the camera, as well as Rachel. Half of the shots that were used I had to construct from looking at the storyboard as well as thinking about our ideas for the film as a whole and seeing what would be best in our location to achieve the best composition of the shot. I filmed the shots that were set outside, and Rachel filmed the inside shots. Shots of the feet walking were filmed by me and I had to consider the 180 degree rule and the composition within the frame as I did this. I thought about which different angles we should shoot from in order to give ease to the editing process as there will be a wider variety of shots to choose from, and many of them will be better than others. However, before this I also input my ideas to the group in the early stages of production and contributed to the ideas that went into the storyboard. As a group, we went to look for locations around the college to set our shots before we started filming and storyboarding, and through doing this I could contribute and offer my ideas about what would make a good shot and how we could film it in that location later on. While Amy was the main editor, I helped her create the music and edit as I had knowledge of the shots and which ones I thought would be best to use as well as give a second opinion of her choices of cuts and timings to achieve the best for the ideas we had as a group.

Group understanding of continuity strategies

Doing the preliminary task was a practical introduction to what we had been taught, and so remembered to consider the elements of mise en scene and continuity. When filming on different days, we had to ensure that the actors were wearing the same clothes and had exactly the same appearance as before. We also had to make sure that outdoor shots were done on one day, or two days with similar weather conditions and at the same time of day so that it seems as if it is the same day when the video is edited. As a group, we had to show an understanding of these methods in our film:

• Match on action
• 180 degree rule
• Shot/reverse shot

We discussed as a group how we can incorporate these into our overall ideas for the film. We successfully used a ‘match on action’ technique a couple of times in the video. One of them, where the subject walked up to a door, and with the use of different shots we showed them reaching for the door handle and the door handle opening on both sides of the door before they enter the room. Another example included a person picking up a phone. We first see a close up of the hand reach for the phone on the table, and then the hand being brought up to the face to answer the phone. By doing match on action shots, we have learnt to make sure the clips are shot for long enough before and after the action so that there is as much time as possible to experiment with while editing to make sure the sequence matches perfectly. We also had to take the shots a number of times to make sure that we match the speed and pace of the clips correctly as well as lighting, white balance, and details such as costume, props and positioning of objects and subjects in the frame.

To show understanding of the 180 degree rule, we made sure that through shots in all locations the camera was on the correct side of the subject. With the shots of a person walking, this was essential in portraying a sense of direction, as keeping the 180 degree rule will mean that the feet will appear to keep walking in the same direction throughout the film unless the change is shown in one shot.

Our video included an example of shot/reverse shot towards the end when the two characters meet in one room. We have used well composed shots from behind the head of one character, showing the other character in front of them – and then reversed to show the other person. This shows the facial reaction and body expression of both characters to create tension and mood. While using this technique, we also had to remember the 180 degree rule so that the continuity of the sequence is right.

Improvements for the main task

Through doing the preliminary task, we have noticed things that work and thing that don’t. Our mistakes are not to be ignored, but taken on board to remember how to improve it next time. With more time we will be able to make a much better product.

1. When operating the camera, I need to make sure to check the white balance every time we change location to get a much more professional looking finish to the film, and so that the colour looks more accurate.
2. We will also use additional lighting and gels in the correct way in locations where it is needed to create our desired effects in the shot and make it look better quality.
3. Although I think that the composition of the shots we used were good, I think it is important when I frame a shot to think about it, and also do it again from a variety of angles and positions in case we find a better option for the shot, or if our first ideas didn’t work exactly as planned.
4. When editing our video, we experienced problems with adding sound, and this resulted in a soundtrack which suited the tone of the film to some extent, but wasn’t necessarily timed well with the film. Now that we have a greater understanding of the programs we are using, I believe that we can create a better soundtrack which will suit the film and is timed well with the film.
5. Use a whiteboard and film a title and shot number before each shot to make it easier to find clips when editing.