Final Music

Della and I have spent a lot of time thinking about and discussing the micro-element of music this week and we have chosen the following songs:

Getting ready scenes
Primavera : Ludovico Einaudi.
The soft yet strangely haunting melody creates a sense of relaxation whilst still being quite suspensful, eerie and re-enforcing the horror genre. The music is quite long, however it will be fairly easy to cut as it's quite repetitive.

Dinner date scene
Crane Dance : Ludovico Einaudi.
Chosen for the same reasons as 'Primavera'. We really liked the way it was both creepy and romantic, like our hybrid genre of horror/romance. This scene will hopefully have the monolouge over the top, adding a nostalgic dimension.

Running and Killing scenes
Chase Jill and Fifty Cal : Charlie Clouser (Saw 3D soundtrack)
We decided to go for music from a very conventional horror film as it has strong beats and sounds in it. There is also a crescendo that we can use for the stabbing scenes. I like the beat of "Chase Jill" for the running as it really implies the danger of the situation.

Editing

Della and I have begun the editing process. We have learnt many different things, for example, cropping, cutting, transitions, split screens and effects. However, because our video files are all .MOV it is taking longer than we planned to put the opening together, because every time we move a clip in the timeline we have to render it again. Despite this, we are making good progress and I am pleased with how the film looks so far.

3rd (and final) filming session.

On Friday night, Della, Myself, Jay and Emily went to Della's to finish off filming for our opening. Della and I both think that the session went really well, we managed to get everything we need to begin the editing process and we're very happy so far. Below is one of our faveourite shots from the session; we think the lighting and the silhouettes of the two people add a cute, romantic feel. However, we are staying within the cinematography conventions of a horror film due to the dim lighting throughout the shot.

2nd Filming Session

On Saturday, Della filmed Emily's running scenes so we could look at and start elimintating some of the unecessary ones today. The lighting and depth of focus on all the shots was really nice, and I think we have a good potential film opening so far. Now all that's left to do is film Jay, which we are doing on Friday evening; we would do it earlier, however, all of us have other commitments such as paid work.

Research : Editing (Citizen Kane - 1914)

Today I decided to look up the editing used in 1941 horror 'Citizen Kane' produced by Orson Wells. It is "an acknowledged milestone in the development of cinematic technique" - http://www.filmsite.org/bestfilmediting3.html

It used many techniques that Della and I are looking at (flash-forwards and a non-linear storyline). It also uses a lot of transitions for example dissolve or curtain wipes as well as both long, extended shots juxtaposed with short, sharp shots to build tension (like what we're intending on doing with the date scene and the short shots of the forest running scenes).

Change of Plan

Last week and this week Della and I had planned to finish all our filming. However, due to a series of illnesses (Emily last week and Della this week), it became impossible to do so.
So, I spoke to Della and we agreed to try filming Jay's getting ready scene and the dinner date on Saturday 8th January in the evening - I asked Jay and Emily at school to make sure they are both free for this.

This week I have finished editing the preliminary task we did a while back and I have been learning how to use the editing software (final cut pro) which we are using to edit our film.

First Filming Session

On Thursday Della filmed Emily's getting ready scene and it went really well. They shot a lot of footage and got the shots we need; although Della and I will need to go through them and decide which ones to use and cut during the editing process.

Final Shotlist

Here is the list of shots Della and I are going to be using for specific scenes :


Getting Ready Scenes: 
(For Jay & Emily)
Medium Close Up / Close Up - In my research I saw a mirror shot I liked, which gave us the idea to do this for a shot.
Extreme Close up - To see the outfit
Extreme Close up / Pan - Close up on eyes after make up / more getting ready
Mid Shot - Picking out clothes from wardrobe
Extreme close up - Looking through hangers

Date scene:
Long shot - Table with both actors seated.
Medium Close Up / Close Up - Each actor individually, seated at the table.
Close up - Emily's face, seeing a vision.
Medium Close Up / Close Up - Emily after vision.
Extreme Close Up - Jay's eyes.
Long shot - Extreme Long Shot - Both actors walking down street.
Close up - Holding hands.

Forest Scene:
Long shot - Emily running through forest.
Close up - Emily's Face.
Close Up - Feet running through forest.
Long shot / Pan - Emily running into distance.
Long Shot / Tracking - Emily running through forest.
Long shot / Tracking - Jay chasing Emily through forest.
Mid Shot - Emily checking around her.
Close up / Tracking - Knife about to stab Emily.

ACTOR & LOCATION SWAP

Due to the snow and everything both Alison and Will have found it difficult to film this holiday, so we've changed actors.
Our lead female role will be played by Emily Smith and lead male by Jay Khatri, both of who are very good friends to us and live in town, making it easier to arrange dates to film.
Because 3/4 members of our group now live in town, Della and I have made the joint descion that it will be easier to film the scenes in locations in Saffron Walden so it's not so much effort. We are now using the respective actor's rooms for the getting dressed scene (making it more personal) and Della's kitchen for the date scene.