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

 

Editing Decision List

Edits to make for the final edit

• Fade in music at the start.
• Create transitions between all shot for smooth transition.
• Fade the music between shot 2 and 3
• Fade the music out at the end of the shot with the fake kidnapper.
• Fade in and fade out all the rest of the other music clips

Annotations of editing

 My editing started by inputting all of the clips that I had used in my first draft. And I cut up and discarded the parts that i didn't need. Now I did following the feedback I got for my first draft, about what can be done better and how it can be done better. As you can see, I added another audio channel to add the music to the opening sequence. In between scenes I also added transitions so that the scenes and shots can have a smooth transition to the next shot without it looking bad and the audience thinking that this is terrible and keeps them interested.

Now in this second screen grab of my editing process, I used other methods than the first picture. As you can see there is a use of a black screen instead of a transition that you find on the editing software. I also decided not to put some music under one of the shots as the shot before it was very intense and the next shot is meant to calm the audience down from the tension. I also used a technique to cut up different parts of the the same shot to the lower the audio at different parts of the shot, because for example, if there was a really loud car or the wind was blowing a lot and all of this could only be heard after filming, so reshooting wasn't an option because that would have been the third shoot.

Now this final screen grab of the editing process had a combination of everything I did in the firs two, from the clip cuts to lower the audio, to the transitions and the black screens. I also made some parts without music to not have just music all the wasy through and make the audience tense up a little. And at the very end I made sure to add a credits list, which I found on the editing software that i had used, which is called Davinci Resolve 19.

SWOT analysis of first draft

 Strengths

One strength of my opening sequence is that it is a suspenseful attention-getter, which, because of a fear that is commonly held by women of walking home alone and sensing that there is someone behind you is very relatable. In this case, it is very easy for the viewer to relate to this feeling experienced by the protagonist. The other strength I used in the opening sequence was a fake-out moment brought about by a girl's belief that her life was in danger when it turns out to be a false alarm. This will both subvert expectations and keep the viewers' attentions.

Weaknesses

There are a couple of weaknesses noticed in my opening sequence. One of the major issues that can be raised is through pacing the suspense may be slow in building up if not done well. In case this element seems extended to low levels, then there might be a loss in tension rather than an increase of it. Another thing that can be added to this is the fact that there is no music that can be added to the tension or to increase it which is also another weakness. The other weakness is predictability. Although the misdirect with the jogger works quite well, the final reveal of the girl having been kidnapped is just very predictable. A more unique, or unpredictable resolution, could make the story stand out. The worst the protagonist could do from fear is panic and close her eyes.

Opportunities

One opportunity presented by the opening sequence would be to go into much more serious themes of fear, safety, and personal awareness. It does this by giving the audience a closer view of the struggle within, connected with perceived danger versus real danger ultimately giving a reflection of how fear sculpts our reactions. The other opportunity lies in using cinematography and sound design to give suspense. This story would also be good at being further developed into a larger thriller or mystery based on the initial plot point that the child got kidnapped, if i was not only doing an opening sequence.

Threats

One potential threat is the fact that the thriller genre is full of very similar stories, which means that I need to adapt my story and create a difference in it to different ones. Another challenge is how the final scene will actually be carried out. If the pacing, camera work, or sound design are off, the impact of the built-up tension could fall flat. On the other hand, this ending of a young girl being kidnapped should be executed sensitively, so that it does not feel too abrupt or exploitative. It is the balance between realism and story impact that is very important.

First Draft Thriller Conventions Analysis

This thriller was created with some of the most conventional and very typical thriller genre conventions that were meant to create suspense, tension, uncomfortability, and edginess for the audience. All this together was used to outline the framework for the genre. The thriller opens with good lighting, camera angles, and light-heartedness as we all know is always used at the start of a thriller film to give the audience some peace of mind, this was at 00:05 of the thriller opening sequence.

The main convention in our thriller was the plot twist, which was used quite well with how the scene played out. At 00:26 an unrecognisable figure who was wearing a black hat ran straight past the protagonist, who was terrified when the person ran straight past him. In this situation the audience would now think that the tension is over and that was the end of the plot and now the girl will get back home safe and sound. Until the real antagonist shows up at 01:28. He is seen sitting at the corner waiting for his prey like a lion in a field. It is like he planned everything and had been watching the protagonist the whole time, from when she was on the phone with her mum at the start.

The camera technique the over-the-shoulder shots bringing the audience in close to the protagonist's perspective and other elements such as swift transitions between the character and his environment—and a simultaneous feeling of being watched or stalked. Another technique frequently employed to underline thriller situations is the use of extreme close-ups to capture nervous expressions on characters' faces and long shots to distance them from any help, adding to impending doom.

The narrative structure strictly follows the thriller conventions because it places the character in an uncertain and hazardous position. An unknown pursuer (the antagonsist) always raised a bit of suspense, making the audience wait to see what is to follow. That's why in this genre the viewers so often know more than the protagonist—who does not suspect a lurking figure ready to harm him from behind them at 01:43.

Final Edit

 

First Draft