RUSSELL SECOND DRAFT

EDITING SCHEDULE/ BEHIND THE SCENES

We edited the rough cut of the film opening at school during lessons using iMovie, as well as creating the voicemail audio on garage band, but we knew that we wanted to use some more specialised equipment which was made available us outside of school. Consequently, we met on Monday 20th February from midday till 6 and in that time edited the lighting, audio and added the credit animation- completing the opening.
Here is some behind the scenes footage of that day:


Below are the difficulties during editing that we faced:

FILM SCREENING FEEDBACK

On Tuesday 22nd February we screened our film opening for the first time to our seven classmates and teacher and using the questionnaire below received the following feedback:

Overall, our film opening received very positive and encouraging responses.
The majority of the audience responded emotionally to the opening with fear, confusion and intrigue.


The main criticism we received is as follows:

• The second half of the opening was too quiet/ slow
• The film opening needs to be cut down to 2:15 maximum 
• The diegetic sound needs to be increased/ revised
• Titles need to be adapted (placement and size)
• Links between sound and visuals need to be developed

This feedback is essential to the film opening's development and we have scheduled a final editing session before our deadline of 28/2/17 where we will take everyones opinions into consideration and hopefully produce a film opening to be proud of.

RUSSELL FIRST DRAFT

STORYBOARD ALTERATIONS

Due to set rearrangement, the sequence of shots 26-30 had to be adapted quite significantly.

Firstly, shot 26 is frames a rocking horse in the left third with the protagonist in the back ground, out of focus. The rocking horse was not available for use on the day of our shoot so instead we used a decorative lamp which portrays a woman holding up a dove. The dove is illuminated by the light, and this symbol of freedom contrasts with the protagonists entrapment, so in many ways this adaption was for the better.

The most recognisable alteration occurs in the sequence of shots 19-26. Due to the rearrangement of furniture and a continuity error we had to adapt the protagonist's movements from standing up to being on the floor on all fours: instead of him walking after he takes the drip out he now falls to the floor immediately afterwards. This meant he was in a different position for the following shots which had been filmed beforehand. Therefore we had to cut some shots and create some on the day. This delayed our filming but I think we dealt with the situation well and kept the continuity.

VOICEMAILS: CASTING & RECORDING

CAST

VOICEMAIL GREETING: JOE DELLA-PORTA

DOCTORS RECEPTIONIST: GEMMA EVENDEN
DAUGHTER: GRACE EVENDEN
BOSS: MICHAEL EVENDEN
EX-WIFE: TRUDY BARBER
NEIGHBOUR: CALUMN KING

VOICEMAIL SCRIPT ALTERATIONS:

When recording the 'Boss' voicemail our group and the actor discussed the legitimacy of the script and decided that the actor, who had experience as an employer, would ad-lib with references to the main points in the script (e.g. the boss was sorry making this decision). The final voicemail recording was more effective than the scripted version.

Once we had shot the film opening and begun editing we realised that we needed to adapt the voicemail audio so to fit the 30 second time period dedicated to the tracking establishing shot. Since we were yet to cast the 'Girlfriend' we deemed it better to abandon this role as it didn't have as much significance in establishing Russell's character/ life as the others did.

SHOOTING DAY

We shot the film opening on Saturday the 28th of January from 10am to 2:30pm.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED/ RESOLUTION:

• Rearrangement of the set→ we altered the storyboard, specifically the movement of the protagonist in the clearing, and rearranged the room as best we could.
• Customer interference → we shot the majority of the footage in the morning when the shop was most quiet. As noon approached more customers began to arrive and we shot takes in between their visits to the basement. In some cases we asked them to refrain from entering the basement during whilst we were shooting a scene and they all understood and responded encouragingly.