Here is our final cut for the opening sequence for the film that we entitled 'Paranoia'.
It is a vast improvement on the rough cut, as it has music, and its edited better. There are also credits among the shots, we decided amongst ourselves who would get what role.
We took the opportunity to film a rough cut of 'Paranoia', to see what we could improve on, to test out the location etc. The rough cut seems very short and dosen't have much impact, but when it comes around to the final cut, and credits and music are put in, the sequence will have alot more impact, especially at the end of the sequence when 'Paranoia' explodes onto the screen. Here is the rough cut which has been edited slightly to maintain continuity, and an evaluation of how we thought it went.
Location
King's St, Cambridge. We thought the location was suitable as it was a dark, dingy area and fit conventions of the thriller genre. A dark alley way is a typical location for a thriller, however we did not feel that it was over-used. When seen it automatically suggests to the viewer that is belongs to a dark genre, and this in itself is effective. Also, the ground was damp, keeping the dark feel.
Shots/ Camerawork
We are happy with most of the shots. To show imagination we used a range of shots; low angle shots, medium shots, high angle shots, long shots, etc, yet maintaining continuity. We feel that the hand held camera makes it seem more realistic, and also lets us empathize with the victim as he appears vulnerable. If the shots were held steady it would not have had the same effect as it would have looked too polished and finalized, so we are happy with the choice of using hand held shots.
Acting
One thing we concentrated on when filming was not allowing the actor(s) to look at the camera, as the cameraman was supposed to seem like a 'fly on the wall'. It also seems more professional if the actor does not look down the camera. The actor, Jon, appears to be in character and does not get distracted.
What We Could Improve On...
We are happy with this as it is only a rough cut and we think that we gave included appropriate conventions of the thriller genre, and kept continuity throughout. However, watching the rough cut we realise that we could improve on some things;
-> keep continuity whenever we can, by showing action from different angles ->use a range of shots and make sure they are effective - not just using up time -> possibly a change of soundtrack - towards the end more of an 'impact' is needed, as the action becomes more intense -> we realised that the actor, Jon, looked at the camera a few times. Even with editing we could not exclude this from the rough cut without sacrificing continuity. We will keep an eye on this in the future.
I started to develop some initial ideas for the music that I would use to soundtrack the opening sequence. As our opening sequence is a more pyscholically based than gorgy i felt that the soundtrack should have a more mysterious feel. I felt that I would make something that sounded like the link below.
As the thriller starts slowly and then builds in pace with the characther attempting to escape from the protaganist. The music begins with a slow melodic sound, then percussion comes in and builds the pace. The drums then briefly fade to provide contrast before percussion and bass enter as the sequence builds to the climax.
