Evaluation - Q7

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I think that doing the preliminary task beforehand has benefited me. This is because as I haven’t had any past experience with filming, it helped me get used to the equipment such as holding the camera steady and how to move the camera around in a steady pace. It also boosted my confidence on how to use the camera whilst filming and how to use it in the correct manner so that I don’t cause any damage.  Before starting this project, I didn’t know how to use the different functions on the camera such as the zoom button but overtime once getting used to moving them and doing some practise shots with the zoom button, I now am able to move the zoom in and out steadily and in the pace that I want which stays the same throughout the whole shot.

In the preliminary task we had to produce a 2-3 minute piece which involves a character going through a door and also interacting with another person and exchanges some dialogue with them. We did this task so that we get used to the filming procedure and also are able to practise some camera shots which we will be using for our main production. The angle shots that we had to do were over the shoulder shot/over shoulder shot reverse, match on action and the 180 degree rule. This task was very beneficial for us as after being able to get used to doing these, we then were able to use these in our production. In the preliminary task, I wasn’t the one who was filming the piece as I was in the filming piece itself but we did some practise shots with each other and I felt that very helpful. In my main task I tried to use the camera angle shots from the practise of the preliminary task which I was able to efficiently from my point of view. Even though we didn’t get our characters to exchange any dialogue in the final piece, we still were able to use the over the shoulder shot and then in reverse when the male character put his hand on the actress. This turned out to look very efficient and it worked well which let the audience see them individually from each other’s point of view making it look professional. In our final production piece, we were also able to use match on action in our piece whilst filming when she runs through the gate. However when we were filming with our original actress and we did the same shot, it didn’t look nice and looked as if it was not a real film. This is because when we filmed with Sabah, when she was running in this shot she stopped at the gate and then we moved inside the park and shot her from the same placed she stopped and got her to start running again. Then when we were editing and put it together, it didn’t fit and you could see her stopping and starting again. However in the preliminary task, we didn’t have this problem and so it never occurred to us that it could go wrong. And so when this problem did occur, it was quite difficult for us to reach a solution to fix this. But then when we looked back at our preliminary task again to see what we did different, we saw that the character didn’t stop and then carry on but she finished it the whole way and then we got her to do the same shot again but from filming from the front angle which kept the flow of the filming constant and it fitted with each other when put together. This is when we decided to do the same for our final piece and got our actress to keep running the whole way through the gate until she was no longer in the camera. We then started filming from inside the park and told her to start running from where she starts running from the start so that it looks consistent with each other. Then when we edited the piece, we were able to cut some pieces out so it looks as if it’s one. Though our preliminary task was a first practise but it’s because of that task that we were able to develop our filming skills so that it’s more of a high quality and looks professional.

In the preliminary task we ended up having to rush the task a bit. This is because, it was our first time filming and as it was 2-3 minute piece we didn’t think that it will take long to do the whole piece. But once we started filming, we found that doing all of it could be time consuming if not done right which then rushed us to complete it when we didn’t have much time left and so wasn’t that good in the end. In our main task whilst filming Sabah’s shots it took us quite some time get these due to many reasons but when we started filming with our final characters, we were able to complete the whole film within 2 hours which we were quite pleased with. I think that after the preliminary task, we thought that we needed plenty of time doing it and then when we filmed with Sabah we felt that we were taking too long to do these simple shots. But once we filmed with our characters, we did leave time in case we go over but we planned it out beforehand and wanted to get the work done in a certain amount of time which we achieved.

I think that overall I have learnt so much and progressed with my work since I first started. This is because when I did the preliminary task I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t have any experience in this as it was my first time however over time once I got used to it and practised around a little, I found that I was getting quite good with the work I was producing. If I didn’t do the preliminary task and went straight to the main task, I know that the production that I have created would have been less efficient and wouldn’t have been that good because of the constant faults. I have learnt how a film is created and what you have to do to keep the production looking professional otherwise the audience will not be satisfied.

Main Task - Feedback on Final Production

Feedback for final production

After we had finished the final production, we went back to those people who we got feedback from in the draft so that we can find out whether or not we were able to produce the film after their advice in the way they liked it. This helped us knowing whether we were able to do what we needed to do for our production and whether in the end after making the improvements we were able to complete the production to the highest possible quality that we could achieve.

Sabah Sarwar

Opinion on opening scene

Like I’ve said before I think that the overall final film was very professional and had showed clear evidence that the directors knew what they wanted. As a result of the passion and commitment they had, resulted in them producing a very good film. I prefer the effect that they have used this time round rather than the black and white version they produced.

 If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was. I would gladly sit in a cinema watching it as I don’t think I will get bored.

Rate out of 10

9/10

Tips that we could use next time

 Choose a different ending such as when the boy jumped over as it went too slow.

Sonia Ahmed

Opinion on opening scene

I think personally I liked the first version better because of the black and white effect. I didn’t like the way the credits came because of the constant ‘&’ used in it. I liked the sounds used such as the heartbeats.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was. If the x-ray thing wasn’t there and left it black and white, then I would go to watch it at the cinema.

Rate out of 10

7/10

Tips that we could use next time

Leave it as a cliff-hanger at the end and put the film name in and that is when the film starts.　

Husaam Hussain

Opinion on opening scene

Overall I think it was a good production for the final draft. The production logo was the improvement from the draft and it has fitted in to the opening scene well. The camera work seemed pretty professional and the background music suited the scene.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was satisfied if they had changed the colour back to how it was before when it was black and white.

Rate out of 10

7/10

Tips that we could use next time

 I think that next they should keep the colour of the flashback scenes in black and white.

Umar Hussain

Opinion on opening scene

Overwhelmingly I sincerely believe the production of this opening scene has been done up to a great standard however I think that the editing for the flashback in the draft was better than the one in this final production.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was very satisfied and if the changes I wrote were made then it would be perfect.

Rate out of 10

8/ 10

Tips that we could use next time

Use better and more active actors to make it more realistic such as Husaam Hussain and Umar Don Hussain.

Basil Hassan

Opinion on opening scene

I think it worse than the first one. This is because it’s too much effect which makes it unprofessional. Too many effects take the tension away.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

No

Rate out of 10

4/10

Tips that we could use next time

Don’t use too much of the effects.

Shabir Dogar

Opinion on opening scene

 I believe the final draft of ‘paranoia’ is excellent, as the opening scene is very interesting; it gets you stuck in, you want to know why this girl is running, what she did. Why she did it. The music used in the background suits the tense scene. The effects such as ‘x-ray’ are good as they catch your attention, you can’t look away. However, once again the font used for credits isn’t the best as it’s hard to read the text.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I am and would really look forward to watching that in the cinema.　

Rate out of 10

10/10　

Tips that we could use next time

I think that everything was really good apart from the opening credits as they could be clearer and bigger.

Choi Tsang

Opinion on opening scene

I liked the x-ray effect because it creates mystery and suspense. I liked the transactions that happen between each clip. I now like the shot of when he puts his hand on her as it creates tension which is because of the x-ray effect. I liked the way that the different camera angles have been used.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was because of the interesting storyline.

Rate out of 10

8/10

Tips that we could use next time

To make sure there is no people in the background and cut out the natural sounds such as the wind; it ruins it slightly.

Our Opinions

Aabidah Ali – Director

Opinion on opening scene

Overall the final draft of the opening was good. I think that the video effect was a brilliant seeing as it is meant to be a flashback; also the music went well with the scary scenes. Generally I am pleased with the outcome, seeing as we are new at being directors. The experience was frustrating at first but gratifying in the end.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

I am happy with the production.   

Rate out of 10

8.5/10

Tips that we could use next time

Better equipment maybe and have the actors sign a contract so they are committed to doing the film.

Safina Rashid – Director

Opinion on opening scene

I think that since the draft, the production has improved very well and I think personally the x-ray effect looked better than the black and white as it looked more scary and dark. I think that the opening credits could have been a bit longer. I am in general quite pleased with the end result.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

I am quite happy with what the production looks like at the end and would say that I am satisfied with what I have created.

Rate out of 10

8.5/10

Tips that we could use next time

I think that we should next time film the shots during the time as when in the actual film it’s showed so that it matches and we can improve on how we worked the storyline to play out more so that it’s mysterious and not too complicated for the audience to understand.

Main Task - Final Production

Paranoia 

Main Task - Editing

Editing

Once I finished with the recording part of the production and was happy with these, I had to start editing the piece together. Before actually starting the editing, it took us some time to find out how to put the shots onto the iMac as I hadn’t used it before and my group member couldn’t remember how she did it in the preliminary task. This took us a while to figure it out because it was quite frustrating especially as no one was around to help us. But once we were able to put it onto the Mac, we then had to decide on which of the clips that we wanted to use so that we could drag it into the editing box. After putting the ones that we needed in the correct order, we decided to cut some clips short as it went quite over the 2minutes and also so that they look good together. We had to cut the clips at the right time such as when Nadia is running through the gate and then cutting the next shot so that it is as the same place where she is which was quite easy to do and once finished looked consistent with each another and gave us our match on action in the scene. The hardest clip to cut was when Nadia is sitting down and Memz is about to hit her with the log and then the next shot is when he slashes the log across the camera. We had to put both these shots in consistent with one another so that they fit nicely together and looks as if done all in one go. We had to get the first shot to stop when the next will start which wasn’t easy to do but I think that after watching the two clips carefully again and again, it helped us to put them together.

We then added the transactions which will be played from one shot to the next which was quite fun to do as we had a chance to experiment with each of them and see which looked the best. We didn’t want to keep them all the same as this would look quite boring in a film and so we wanted to use different ones but had to make sure that they fit in with the atmosphere of the film. We had to let the audience know that we were coming back and forward from a flashback and so used a transaction which showed this like the ripple which gave off that impression. This wasn’t enough though as we also had to change the flashback scenes into black and white so that they know this was in the past. However when we did this for our first draft, we ourselves as the editors didn’t think it looked right as there was too much sun in the background and so didn’t look real but we wanted to let our audience have their opinion on this and so let them see it and give us feedback. Once our audience told us what they thought, we decided to change the color of the flashback scenes again and so again started experimenting with the different colors. In the end we decided to go with the x-ray one which gave that spooky look to it and looked as if it was shot in the dark where it’s supposed to. We also changed the other clips so that it’s brighter in the background showing that it is supposed to be a happy place. We also decided to slow down the movements of some of the clips as they were going too fast and some we fastened it up a little. We did this as some shots we wanted the shots to be carefully watched so that they know what is happening and can see everything is happening such as when she is running through the gate and also when she is just about to get killed and the last clip we fastened it up as its supposed to shock the audience.

We then had to add some sounds in the background. We went through the different music clips and sounds that were on the Mac to see whether or not they would fit in with the film. We used several different of them which suited the mood and atmosphere of the film such as at the end as soon as the girl is killed, we use a police siren suggesting that something bad has happened and the police are involved in this. This helps keep it scary at the same time as well as being effective. We also used two music sounds in the background overlapping with one another which is so that it could be really scary and builds suspense up that something is going to happen. One of the sound clips we used off the Mac and the other is made by me from Garage Band. We did this as we wanted to have our own piece of work so that it is more original and not copied off the internet. We looked at other people’s who have created their own music and used this as a guide to make our own. It was hard getting the music right that I made as it had to be chilling and suspense music at the same time. We wanted to use this sound going through the whole clip even the normal clips as it is supposed to be a background music which is building up to a scary event happening. We also used another sound clip when the boy hit’s the girl so that the audience knows that she has been hit with it and has either died or is seriously injured. This had to be loud as the clip goes fast so that it captures the audience attention and the sound had to go with it so that it scares them and also want to carry on watching the film. The most effective sound clip was the heartbeat sound which is when Memz puts his hand on Nadia and she is scared. This is supposed to be tension building which is effective and also emphasizing that it’s a matter between life and death with the heartbeats beating slowly.

The next stage was putting in the opening credits. This was quite a frustrating task to do though it was easy as we had to make many decisions regarding this matter such as the font, color, when will they come in and how they will come and if we wanted to have each of them coming at the same pace. In our opening scene, we only have two characters in the actual shot but we decided that it will be realistic and seem as an actual film if we added other names in of people of those who would be in the film if we shot the whole film. After we added the actors/actresses names in it, we had to include the other credits such as the directors, writers etc. We did this so that our names are in the production which lets the audience know who created it. As we did some things individually as well, we had to spread these out as well putting them together such as when the producer’s names come up. 

Finally we added the production logo so that the audience knows who the film is produced by and which company it is from. We changed some things around so that the production logo fits with our genre such as making the color of blood lighter so that it stands out and emphasizes on blood.

In the end we were pleased with the editing that we had produced however we decided to do some little tweaks in the editing by changing the smaller stuff which is eye catching but still noticeable by the audience such as the lighting in the background and the sound of the music in the background. This was important to do as even the slightest error can put the audience off the film and so we changed the sounds so that one is lower and the other is higher and also we wanted to get the heartbeat sound really loud so that the audience can hear it properly. We also changed some of the lighting so that it seems more darker and the characters are in a bright color so they are more noticeable however still trying to make the background important.

Overall I was quite pleased with the editing at the end. We worked really hard on this stage of the production and took time out to complete this as it was an important stage in the production process. As this was our first attempt doing something like this, we handled it well and were able to complete the work to the best of our ability and I am satisfied with the outcome and think that this has been developed into a skill which I can use later on in the future.

Main Task - Title of film

Film Name

We decided to call our film name Paranoia. This is because we thought that the name fitted it with the plot of the story. We had several other names which were similar aswell but decided to use this as its short and catchy. We used the colour red as it signifies blood which is what we wanted to get across to our audience. Our film is a horror movie and there will be blooshed init and the colour red shows this. We chose this font because there were not that many choices to choose from but also this one looks scary and gives the sharp knife effect which is good for our movie. We chose to do it on a black background so that it stands out more and it gives the dark look to it.

Main Task - Production Logo

Production Logo

This is our film's production logo which is called 'Sister Productions'. This logo was produced by hand by one of my group members Aabidah Ali who wanted draw this as she wanted to produce something unique and not copy anyone's idea. The logo is a representaion on our chosen genre which is horror as the picture is of a knife going through a heart which is supposed to bring out a scary and terrifying effect. The logo shows blood which is what our film's will be about as our particular studio will only create horror films or horror/thriller combined. This is because we thought of this idea after doing some research up on the different productions and their studios and found that productions such as TroubleMaker Studio only make films within a certain genre. They only make films that are horror or action movies. They do this because of many reasons such as that their logo is made only for these type of films and would not fit in with movies that are comedy or romantic which also leads to the name of the production which is called 'TroubleMaker Studios' wouldn't suit with other types of films but this isn't the case all the time as they could get away with producing comedy films with their production name. 

We have also decided that Sister Productions will only produce horror or horror/thriller films. This is because we produced the logo only bearing in mind that it will fit in with out film Paranoia and it does. This kind of logo would not suit if we made romantic films as this shows a knife going through the hear killing that person which people wouldn't approve on in a film about love. 

Main Task - Feedback on Draft

Feedback on first draft

After we had finished the first draft, we wanted to know the audience’s opinion on it so that we could improve on it. We did this as we wanted to see where we had gone wrong and whether or not they were completely satisfied with it. It was interesting to see where they thought we had done well and what we could do so that they feel happy thinking that it is good. This would also help us knowing whether or not we are able to complete this to our fullest abilities. We showed this to many people who are in our target audience as it has to fulfil their requirements. 　

Sabah Sarwar

Opinion on the opening scene

Overall, I found that the film that was made by Sister Productions was very good and looked very professional. From the opening scene I could clearly illustrate what the film was about. As well as it being a good production the actors were very good and had showed clear sign of good acting. This was probably due to the fact that the directors were very efficient and knew what they wanted.

What needs to be improved

If there was something to improve about the film it was the end acting scene to where the actor (Memz Karakus) lacked the role. By this I mean the jump he did to hit Nadia was a bit slow. 　

Sonia Ahmed

Opinion on the opening scene

I liked the whole concept of the film and it makes sense. Where they have put in the sound effects, I think they should have taken the natural sounds out. The credits at the start are coming too quickly not letting the audience see them.

What needs to be improved

I think that opening credits could maybe be slowed down a bit. They need to put in the production logo at the start.

Husaam Hussain

Opinion on the opening scene

Overall I think it was a good production for the first draft. The camera work seemed pretty professional and the background music suited the scene. There were good effects used as well.

What needs to be improved

The thing I think could be improved is the style of font for the credits; it should be clearer so the person watching can read it properly.

Umar Hussain

Opinion on the opening scene

I think that it has been done professionally. Over the shoulder shot was used in a professional manner and the editing effects was done in a high standard. The background engaged the audience and it makes you want to carry on watching ahead. I really liked the flashback idea; it seems that it has been done by a professional editor.

What needs to be improved

I think that they should add in the production logo.

Basil Hassan

Opinion on the opening scene

I think that it is dramatic and builds tension for the audience. The way the roundabout makes the audience anxious about what’s going to happen.

What needs to be improved

They should keep the camera staedy.

Shabir Dogar

Opinion on the opening scene

After watching the first draft of ‘paranoia’, I think the storyline is very good. This is because it makes me want to watch on and is very interesting.

What needs to be improved

I believe the font used for credits should be changed as it is barely visible on the background.

Choi Tsang

Opinion on the opening scene

I think that it is good but it’s not as scary as it should be because of the people in the background. The background music is high quality and suited the atmosphere. It doesn’t create the suspense because it should be quick.

What needs to be improved

I think that scene should be speed up a bit.

Our Opinions

Aabidah Ali – Director

Opinion on the opening scene

I think the first draft was good but the only problem we had was the lighting as we were filming in the daylight. Though we changed it to black and white, I could see the errors that we made in it due to the sun.

What needs to be improved

I think that we should really have done the night shots at night so that the audience can see that it is clearly in the night. We also could have choreographed better. We should have got Nadia screaming at the right time.

Safina Rashid – Director

Opinion on the opening scene

In my opinion, I think that the first draft was quite good despite being our first attempt. However there are a few things that I disliked about the production such as the black and white effect where you can see the sun in the background. This is because it is supposed to be dark showing that it’s a horror film. I also didn’t like that at some points where the camera is moving, it wobbles a bit. Another thing which is quite frustrating is that Nadia starts to scream when she is walking backwards however this isn’t shown in the production as its been cut out and the audience only hear her scream at the end shot. On the Mac, the credits are shown clearly and are big however on the computer it comes up fuzzy which doesn’t look right.

What needs to be improved

I think that we should find a way to find to get Nadia’s scream back in where she starts to scream as it shows that she is scared. Also we need to sort out the opening credits and keep them clear so that the audience can see them. We should also do the night shots when it is actually dark.

*Saman Ali was unable to comment.