Final Post

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Evaluation Six&Seven

Evaluation Question 4&5

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Props

In our opening we wanted to play on society fears. Therefore by using props such as a wedding ring and a family photo, people usually feel safer when in a cab. However what we have done is used those aspects to illustrate that it doesn't always mean your safe. As in each shot we slowly show more and more about the character, the audience is lead to believe that they are safe.
This is a short clip illustrating some of the props we filmed, we did not use all the shots we filmed as some of these did not flow or fit in the one of the opening.

Showcase Feedback

The audiences freeback after the screening of our opening at the media showcase. Overall we had very positive reaction to our opening and we are extremly pleased.

Script - Dialogue

Our actor/driver was a Stefs dad. Joe isn't a cab driver in everyday therefore he didn't really know what to say. We wanted the conversation to be casual and to flow well, therefore we decided to have Ciara to sit in the back of the cab and to talk to Joe, and then later we could edit her voice out. This way we created a very authentic feel to our opening. This is the full scene of the dialogue and what we used and when.

Costume in Our Opening

Stefs dad was our actor in our opening. He wore a striped tracksuit with nike trainers. We though this was effective as it created this causal vibe. Making the audience less suspicions of the character and his intention when he was driving around as drivers usually wear something comfortable as they are sitting driving for the whole day. 

Taken and Our Film

Another film that we were inspired by and thought was targeted at the same potential target audience that our film i would be is TAKEN. This psychological thriller would share a similar story line to MAC4's 'When the Bough Breaks', if it were to be turned into a feature length film. Both story line have the same factors of kidnap and a hero character coming to the rescue.
Similarly to our opening, Taken was rated a age certificate of 15years. This was due to the strong violence and scenes of torture. If our film were to become into a feature length film if would also include strong scenes of violence, torture and may contain sexual and drug abuse. However these scenes would not been shown explicitly. These scene would also not condone or glamourise violence or any of abuse, therefore it would be classed as 15age rating from the BBFC. All factors of the film would be appropriate for 15age rating as if classifying the film as a 18 there would be a smaller target audience and therefore a lower sale. Taken was first rated an 18 age rating before the final cuts of the film was made, therefore to create a wider target audience Canal+ and EuropaCrop made changes to the film to be able to pass the age rating of 15.

ShotList

Before filming our opening our group made a list of all the different shots we wanted, as we wanted certain shots to emphasis the feeling that the 'customer' would be safe. Playing on stereotypes that what people usually lookout for when getting into cabs. This was the list we made, since then we have made some adjustments  to help the opening flow better or because the shots didn't look right. As no one in our group cant draw we thought this was a better alternative to a storyboard which is drawn.

Location - WhiteWebs

The last scene in our opening is very significant as it ties the story line together, without it the story would not make any sense. Therefore a lot was riding on that scene. We want to film somewhere that looked abandoned or a place which looked like no one could find them.

As we are not making a feature length film and do not have a budget to hire somewhere out we settled for Whitewebs.  The drive up into Whiteweb really helped capture the 'scary' feel that we were aiming for.
 The long trees which surrounded the drive up changed the tone of the opening. This made the audience start to question the driver and where it this 'customer' going. This is helping build tension, creating a very tense feel. As Whitewebs is a public area it was difficult to film the shots we wanted. One elderly man thought that we we filming something very exciting a thought that it was is big break so as we were filming the last boot scene (with only 2 minutes battery left) he though it would be a good idea to warm up before his run, right next to the boot.

Location - Kenilworth Creasent

One of the location in which we shot at was Emily and Ciara's road. We used this in the Ariel shot of the taxi driving as well as the taxi pulling away. We used different parts of the road to create the illusion that it was filmed in completely  different places. Filming here was very helpful as we could film different shots from inside the house.Such as the over the head shot which was shot from inside Ciara's house.

 

Why the Baby Sound Effect?

As a team we made the collective decision of leaving the baby sound effect in the final cut of our openinng. We discussed this at length as a groups as well as with our teacher and peers to help us to get a balanced view on the sound. We are aware this is pushing the boundaries and you are either think it work completely well or that its missed up and too far. But that is a risk we are willing to take. As a nation as well as worldwide we have become desensitised, with films and televisions shows constantly harming adults we have some to expect it, making our ending of our opening stereotypical and almost clique. By us implying that there is baby in the boot it creates so many question from the audience. Why a baby? What is a baby doing? All questions that would make you want to continue watching. If we were to make a full length feature film.

Reaction to Baby Sound Effect

This is the reaction from our fellow class members and our teacher to the baby sound effect. We felt as though having only a women is very 'been done' I though it would be more interesting as it not expected. This creates a completely story. All is explained in the video above.

Last Few Changes

After watching our opening a few thousand of times, we are still finding things we want to change. As we are constantly making adjustments to our opening, this makes us change our opinion, as well it ruining other parts of the opening such as the sound. There was also a lot of difficulties whilst filming this made the editing process a bit more tricky. Examples of this are, that we had two different people one driving the cab and the other acting in the cab. Therefore we had to layer ALOT of the sound. This causes us a lot of stress, as we have to make sure that the right engine is with the right scene and all that. Also oblivious that we actually needed the engine sound we were all talking like idiots whilst filming, thinking we would just mute the sound. Wrong! This is another thing we have to fix. Of course I leave the worst problem to the last. The Ending. Our ending has caused me such grieve. Thinking about our ending makes me want to huddle in a ball a cry for a good hour. NOTHING sounds real. All the ending dialogue we have record just doesn't sound right. As none of us have ever been kidnapped and thrown in the boot with your/ or a baby (plot twist) it doesn't sound realistic. After, all of us trying and failing, we asked Georgia to help us out. However feedback has stated that it isn't distressed enough. So we have a dilemma.
These are all the other thing that we have to change/fix:

Final Opening - When the Bough Breaks

Bone Collector Inspriation

As inspiration of our two minute opening we looked at the opening scene of the popular film, ' The Bone Collector'. The opening scene of the clip is of a New York couple who take a cab journey.
Tjis is of a different perspective of our opening as it doesn't show the passenger however in the opening of the bone collector we do not see the cab driver, therefore we have the point of view of the passengers. leaving the audience feeling the same a the passengers, not knowing where there going or whats happening. However in our opening we adapted a different approach to the opening. Creating an illusion that there is some sitting in the back of the cab, and the driver is just having a simple conversation with the passenger.

OUR TITLE

After much discussion, and many stupied titles, we finally found a title that all of us love. Due to surprise sound at the end of the baby crying, it inspired us to have something like a nursery rhyme or lulleby title for our film. As many film use this in scary/ horror films to surprise the audience, as having a child or in our case a baby is much worse then having anything else. The title is a line for the famous 'Rock A Bye Baby', these are the lyrics.