Film Draft with Music

We have now added music to our draft, we have had some complications with our opening as some of our shots and music has appeared differently on http://www.youtube.com. Such as in the movie there is a slight pause on the video which did not appear on the Imovie, we recently got an audience review from our teacher and she did not like the silence as it loses tension and impact to the opening. The pause is too misleading as when there is a pause in a movie the audience immediently thinks that there will be a scary part where some one kidnaps a person, even though the scene is about Jack the Ripper stalking the victim. I am very pleased with the outcome of the music and the draft and that they fit well together. I really like signature tune of the church bells and the sound of the horses. We still have to make changes to the sound and editing.

The Assault Scene

Originally, our group thought that having an assault scene would suit our opening and it would add more tension and drama to the opening. However, when we was editing our film we decided to have the assault scene implied as it leaves more to the audience imagination and the audience will want to find out what happened to the victim and watch the film. Having the assault scene implied it is possible to have the age certificate as a 15 as it has horror and violence, our film can then reach to a wider audience in comparison to if our opening contained the assault/rape scene it would have to of been an 18.
This is the assault/rape scene in which we have decided to cut on our opening.:

Watching the assault scene we all decided it was too graphic which it did not need to be in the opening as the opening is suppose to entice the audience and in thriller films the opening is suppose to introduce the story and build up the tension and drama for the audience to want to watch the film. Watching the assault scene I also released that we did not stick to the 180 degree rule as it was our first time filming.
I am very glad that we cut the assault scene from the opening as I feel in a thriller film there is always that one moment which sticks in the audience's mind and I do not want the most gripping scene in the opening as the audience may not watch the rest of the movie.

Problems with the Editing

In our two minute film there is a close up of the murder weapon which is a knife which is suppose to be dripping blood. When we got the audience opinions on our film they thought that it was water on the knife dripping, which made them think that J the R was cleaning the weapon. In our storyboard we loved the idea of having a close up of the knife dripping the victims blood as it is implied horror and it shows the audience that the victim did die.
Whilst we were thinking of ways of showing that there is blood on the knife we thought of adjusting the colour scheme on that shot and turn it red. Although, we knew that it may not fit in with our opening due to the fact it is filmed in night mode, the colouring is black and white we thought it may have an impact on our film. However, maybe we could use the shot as our final shot but developing the colours for example, the shot of the knife being black and white but gradually progessing to blood red.
When we changed the colour adjustments to make the shot red it even turned the background red which we did not want as we only wanted the knife to have colour. We discussed our problem with the colour adjustments with another group and they suggested that we upload the older version to our Mac and then we can get the colouring on one object. Even though, it is a very long and difficult process.
We then thought of using a print screen and saving the shot as a picture so we then use iPhoto to change the colour adjustments. However, with the shot being a picture in a film it would make it lifeless as before we have slight movement which made it seem like beating. This is a video of the iPhoto colour adjustments which I found that could be useful if we do decided to use this option:

iPhoto '08 Colour Adjustments

When watching this video it gave me an idea that maybe iMovie an effects and adjust option inwhich we may be able to saturate the shot, we could try darkening the brightness and contrast to see if that will work. However, whilst watching this video it did not change one subject which did not help me significantly.

The next video is showing the iMovie '09 colour adjustments, this video helped me more than the video before, as we have the use of this programme and it shows alot of experimentation with the colouring such as, the saturday, brightness, contrast and exposure:

iMovie '09 Color Correction Tutorial

When watching this video I understood alot more about what we could achieve with the colouring. Even though, it did not say how I could change the colour of only one object, but watching this video has given me the idea of maybe filming the shot and have the knife against a black background, which will only change the colour of the object. Also, watching the video the tutorial man said that it was better to have the sound and the editing of the clips done first and then the colour adjustments which I think we should do.

Editing- Implied Assault

Whilst we were filming we decided to add an assault scene which consists of stabbing which is not graphic as it is a point of view shot from the knife slashing the throat, we also had a rape scene where Jack the Ripper put his hand up the victims dress as it was believed he also raped some of his victims and some abuse shots where Jack is slapping, strangling and he also trips over the victim so she falls on the floor. Whilst filming we thought that adding these shots will be good and useful as it will give our film drama and we had in mind that horror and thriller films always have gore and horror.

Se7en- Trailer

However, after watching Se7en we realised that you can make a good thriller movie which does have implied horror. Whilst we were editing we decided that we would not have the assault shots as we believe that the shots were too graphic, which would make the viewer feel uncomfortable and I think it will make the viewer dislike the film as well if in the opening their is a rape and assault scene it will seem that the film will only get more violent. Also, if we did include the assault scene I feel that we would not have stuck with our storyline which was J the R stalking a women and he then murders her which was going to be implied. Also, the rape scene contradicted our research as their has never been proof of Jack the Ripper raping his victims and we only focused on the murders which we are suppose to be re-create the story of J the R and making it come alive on screen.

However, even though we decided not to use the rape or assault scene and make it implied we have decided to add a shot where Jack the Ripper is on top of the Victim and he picks up his knife and it looks like he is cutting out her internal organs. Even though this is not implied we feel that it gets the audience sitting on the edge of their seat, with the fear and the vulnerability of the victim is radiating of the screen which makes it so effective. With the use of this shot if the audience imagine how the victim is murdered it is horrible and spine chilling.

The ending of the film shows a photograph of the 'next victim' I originally thought that it was a good ending as we could carry on the story. After researching other movies I am going to discuss with my group that instead of ending our film like that we should use our shot we filmed of the close up and point of view of J the R shot of the victim screaming as I feel that it will be a good ending and it will be memorable as the audience would not be able to forget about it. After the victim screaming we could use the opening title of the film like Scary Movie as in my opinion it would be a very dramatic ending.

Editing Problems and Solutions

When we edited and watched our film again we noticed that there was a pause in the beginning when the victim is at the front of the house. As the camera shot is wide shot the audience can not tell that the victim is replacing her corset and skirt to imply she has just come out of a 'clients' house as Jack the Rippers victims were prostitutes. We also used the shot of the fake blood on the knife but as the camera is in night mode it looks like it is water which is how the audience saw it. To resolve this issue we are going to change the colouring of the shot to red, however it will look out of place if the film is shot black, grey and white to suddenly have red. But this may add to the effect of a horror film and we may be able to apply out credits on the knife or I was thinking we could do a still shot of the knife and may be able to photoshop it so only the blood would be red instead of the shot. Whilst we were filming we shot the murder scene which implied rape but after editing Michaela and Emily decided it would be best if we stuck to our original plan and made it implied as the rape scene would make the audience uncomfortable. Even though we have still got a shot in the film were the victim is lying on the floor and it is a midshot showing her torso and it implies she being stapped and her internal organs ripped out from her. Even though this may not be implied I really like this shot as it shows how J the R killed his victims and the bulid up of the film is the death of the victim so it is showing the gruesome murder but it is still being left to the imagination.

Beginning of Editing

When we first started editing our video it was a very long and noisy process as the whole class started to edit at the same time. We all decided that we will take it in turns to edit as it was too difficult for all four of us to edit as we all had different ideas. We have decided to edit our film Thursday in our free period and after school. This is what we have done so far.