Post Production Evaluation

Post Production Evaluation

Post-Production Process Survey:

The second stage of making the project was post-production, which mostly involved editing and audio design. For the audio part, I focused on picking the right music to make scenes more exciting without drowning out the other sounds. I had to be careful with the timing and mood of the music, making sure it fit each moment without covering up important dialogue or sound effects. For example, I matched the music with key visual moments, building up to intense parts and then pulling back to let the audience catch their breath. 

Also, to avoid awkward silence during quiet scenes, I added some soft wind sounds to keep the atmosphere interesting without being too loud. This made the overall sound feel alive without taking away from the visuals. 

In the editing stage, I focused on smooth scene changes, using DaVinci Resolve's tools to try out different effects like fades, light flares, and quick cuts. I made sure the transitions fit the mood of the shots around them, avoiding anything too jarring that might break the flow. (Insert screen grab here of a big transition, like going from a wide shot to a close-up, to show how rhythm is important.) I also used black screen cuts, which are quick breaks to build suspense and surprise the audience. These quick, blank moments can work really well in thrillers because they reset the tension before the action starts again. 

Finally, for audio post-production, I paid close attention to volume control, adjusting the sound levels so that background noise didn’t overwhelm the dialogue or important sound effects. This way, the most important sounds stayed clear, keeping the suspenseful vibe without being too messy. 

During editing, I paid special attention to seamless transitions between scenes, applying DaVinci Resolve tools to experiment with different transitions such as fades, light flares, and rapid cuts. The transitions had to align with the mood of what was happening around them and stay away from anything harsh that would disrupt flow. I also employed black screen cuts, rapid cuts for suspenseful purposes and surprising intent towards the audience. These rapid, blank bits get a lot out of thrillers because they restore tension before continuing.

Above is the close up cut to long shot

Evaluation of how work meets the brief

 Evaluation of how work meets the brief

As the director and producer of this opening sequence and hopefully the full film, I wanted to be able show the different elements of a thriller opening sequence and show the different conventions, using different techniques. I chose to start with a nice and happy start with a girl walking home from school for the first time. Even though this looks like a nice and happy start to the opening sequence most people will know that the start is showing the fake emotions so that it seems like a normal and happy film and that nothing bad of a high extent will happy. And I used a red herring within my story to make it more suspenseful the real time the girl gets kidnapped. I kept my opening sequence at 2 minutes which is what the brief asked of me. 

This is also tailored to the correct audience as the main character is around that age and the kidnapper looks older as well but in that same age category. I tried to keep the opening sequence brief even though there is quite a lot going on just for two minutes. With all of this being used I also used the thriller films that I first looked at to help me create my own opening sequence, and the film that I used was Taken 1, as they are both kidnapping films, it helped me create my own version

With Taken it really inspired me with the idea, even though it is one of the most used ideas in thriller film history, I wanted to make my own unique version of the thriller kidnapping films, and to also get a feeling of how these films are done, because they interest and engage me so much.

My work really does show very similar features to the Taken film, as both of these screenshots are taken from their kidnapping scenes, which is one of my main thriller techniques that I used to really gain an audience in my thriller opening sequence

During my production stage of filming, I decided to try utilise as many camera angles and to see which fit the best for the scene, making sure that everything can be seen clearly and everything is easily understandable for the audience. I mainly used long shots so that more can be seen on teh shot and that the scene can start earlier and because my shots mainly used a large area space for them. I also used an over the shoulder shot to kind of give the effect that the girl is still be watched and that something still may happen to her. In post production I made sure to use music as the feedback suggest to create more suspense during the opening sequence.

During the editing process of the post production part of my opening sequence, the pace was not fast to create more tension, but it was slow to allow the audience to understand what is going on and to make it more tense by making it slower and for the audience to then crave it more. With all of this I feel as though my opening sequence stayed on target with what techniques and conventions I needed to use. Yes it did have some techniques that were a bit off book like the slow pacing but I felt like it worked so it's okay, and overall I feel like it checked every box with the client brief.

Also the brief talks about how the target audience is "16-24 year olds" which is also what my thriller is targeting. Even though I put that my thriller can be available to watch for people 12+ which yes is true but it will mostly appeal to the target audience that was set by the brief which is also another reason as to how this thriller product meets the briefs guidelines.

Evaluation of meeting the clients needs

 Evaluation of meeting the client's needs

I will be saving my project as an AVI file which will give me the best quality picture for the opening sequence for it to be shown at the Chicago Film Festival. Now as I am filming in the UK, and the festival will be in the US, I will need a digital copy of my opening sequence that I have prepared for the festival. I will be using AVI like I said. Yes, I know that there are some similar alternatives such as MP4 and MOV, but they have some negatives, for example MOV is mainly used for apple products but I used Davinci Resolve to edit my opening sequence, which means that I can't export the video as an MOV file. I am also not using MP4 because of its video quality. AVI has a better quality, but it is a bigger file size, but because it is a film festival, I want the audience to experience the best even if the file size is a bit bigger. I can you MEGA to transfer the file which compresses the file you can unzip it when it reaches its destination.

Justification Grids

Legal and Ethics Grid

BBFC Age Rating Measurements

The age ratings that I am aiming for when making this project is the age rating 12. This is because this is a thriller film, and I am asked to create a thriller film that should of course be conventional and aimed towards people who enjoy thriller films. Now the reason I think the age rating of 12 will be good for my thriller and is appropriate is because there is no foul language, but in actual fact there could be so that doesn't bother me, but there also isn't much violence, with only the kidnapping and some other minor stuff which means it doesn't go over the line of being too violent. There also isn't any blood and won't be which is also a big factor. Now there also could be occasional blood, which is what the BBFC allows, which I may decide to incorporate. But one of the main big things about this age rating classification, is that fact that nobody under the age of 12 is allowed to enter the cinema, or what this film, because that is only for 12A rated films. And to be completely honest, a thriller film should not be appropriate for any child, because of the dangerous behaviour and violence that could be copied. And for the rest of the rules, my thriller won't go past these lines, so there won't be any need to cover them

Production set up reflection

 

Evidence of using planning tools