Evaluation

This is our evaluation to our opening sequence "The Interrogator"
In this video we evaluate from our first ideas to the final production. Also you will find where our inspiration came from and how this effected our film.

Happy Watching

Overview

During this project we developed our opening sequence massively from the original plans. Using the inspiration of Lie to Me , 24 and James Bond Casino Royale. These gave us a good style to create our film in, storylines and camera angles were also was influenced by these films. The outcome looks great and accomplished what we set out to do. One great improvement was when we shortened the film to just fewer than 2 mins. This has a shorter more snappy, attention grabbing feel.
If i were to do this kind of project again i would put more time into producing a much tighter script, and storyboards as scenes where cut too soon and created a jumpy look. As well as this, better location scouting would have helped as it would have allowed more focus on the filming and acting. This would help as we struggled to fake the office environment in a school location.

Reviews/Feedback

These are reviews that we obtained from those who we showed our film. We asked a selection of questions and this is the responce we got:

Bartek: Even if it’s an opening sequence it fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller very well.
The voice that talks to in the movie from a secondary source is very attention grabbing.
I think the storyline is an anti terrorist organisation.
He found that all the film was successful in being entertaining.

Daniel: Yes, I believe it does show the codes and conventions clearly and was easy to understand.
The story comes across well but doesn’t give away too much.
The voice over was useful

Ashleigh: really well thought out, same things could have been clearer, but was all very good. Good camera shots and a good use of angles.

Kira: I didn’t understand at first but by the end i wanted more
Good mix of many codes and conventions.
The placing of the camera was great it captured everything you need to see.
Sometimes you make a strange cut in the middle of the sentence

Shortening Fotage

After we got a much a shorter opening sequence we found that we had read the brief incorrectly and needed to shorten our sequence further, to under 2 mins. This firstly seemed like it would be a long process to do however it turned out that it was a lot easier than expected, and the film was better for it. It gave the sequence a more snappy and interesting feel. Despite the fact of worrying about having to shorten the film and losing some of the story line, this fear proved to be unfounded as it improved the film more so. Although we shortened it to the necessarily length after looking at the footage we realised the 180 degree rule was broken because of the amount of editing was needed. This was due to the fact that we were cutting out shots from the same scene, which mistakenly mixed the flow of the sequence.

Bartecs departure

One of your group Bartec found working with us very stressful, he felt like he wasent needed and left as a resolt. However now he is not working directy with us we are getting alot more out of eachother.

Locations

Choosing locations was a very important stage of our film, and changing to more modern locations allowed for a more professional look. The first location we looked at was the office scene which was directly inspired from the opening sequence of Casino Royale. This later led us to questions our other scenes as well, which in some cases meant a reshoot was needed. Over all shooting in the school was difficult to make it ‘not look like a school’. We overcame this through resourcefulness and our knowledge of the locations which best fit the conditions we were aiming for. For example we were able to shoot behind the library for a part of the opening sequence, as this best reflected a modern office location. The visual aid of stairs appearing in the background, created an effect that the scene was located from within the middle of a much larger building.

Voice over

The finalised film is a world away from what we started with. Our first and most prominent problem throughout editing was getting the film down to a watchable level, as we had a very long sequence that would lose the viewers interest. The first thing we did to solve this, was we re-shoot the main parts of the film that where too long. The second time we filmed we used a tripod, this cured the shaky camera work and the use of a reverse shot helped improve the focus and feeling in the film. The voice over that we later edited into the film allowed for more direction in the storyline, as the main character talks straight to the audience and allowed them to get a glimpse into the protagonists head.