Shooting Schedule

Below is our new shooting schedule for all of our re-shoots. 

I created this because it's crucial we stick to a schedule so we can complete all our filming as soon as possible in order to meet the deadline for our final cut on the 8th March. We need to complete all our filming quickly because once the filming is complete and to the standard we are aiming for, we can then completely focus on the quality of our editing which will overall bring our final product together. 

First Cut

Above is the first cut of our coursework and below is our own self-assessment of our work.

Camera:

• We haven't included an establishing shot therefore the audience is unaware of the location and environment so we'll have to shoot this in a re-shoot.
• The tilt-up of the camera we use near the beginning isn't smooth and is unprofessional and therefore needs to be re-shot.
• Overall we need to include more POV shots to bring the audience into the diegesis and connect with our protagonist, but the POV we have used in the flashback needs to be re-considered because it would be better if we could see the protagonists reaction in the flashback. 
• In some of the shots the camera isn't positioned correctly and the body of our actress gets in the way of the shot casuing the audience to not see her actions.
• The drawing of the boy needs a longer, and closer close-up shot to ensure the audience has time to see exactly what is on the drawing. 
• The ending of the final shot is too random and unexpected therefore, we will need to adapt this in order to fit our narrative better.

Editing/Titles/Transitions

• The overall titles we have used are good, clear and a suitable length of time and we are therefore pleased with the effective simpleness of them.
• We have a reasonable amount of transitions which break up the narrative in a positively, effective way which we are also content with.
• Overall, our editing is smooth and shows good continuity and this is something we need to continue after our re-shoot for our final product.

Mise-en-scene

• We wanted to use low-key lighting however, our lighting ended up being too natural and light so we may want to consider this when we re-shoot. 
• Overall the costume and make-up we used on our protagonist was suitable and added to as well as reinforced her character in the narrative. 
• The framing of some of our shots was sometimes not straight, and there were a few times when our protagonist was marginalised and not centralised. 
• Finally, her walk over to the desk after drinking the alcohol and having the flashback is too sober and her overall acting needs to be more 'drunk'.

Sound

• Our use of diegetic sound is clear, parallel and appropriate to the scenes which is good.
• Furthermore, the use of our non-diegetic score is also appropriate however, we need to find another piece of music for the ending of our product which has a faster pace and will help build-up and reinforce the narrative. 

Reviews and Feedback

Today we had our work showcased to the class and we were given some feedback on how our product is looking so far. The work shown was not yet even a completed version of our first rough cut but we had included most of our clips in the correct order and for the correct length of time so receiving some feedback has been very useful for progressing our project forward.

Things we need to improve/ work on:

•  Problems with the camera work - the camera pan we use to follow our protagonist whilst she walks from the window sill to the desk is slightly too fast therefore, we will have to either re-shoot or have a look at some of our other shots to see if we can replace it. Furthermore, we use a tilt down to show our protagonist pouring a drink and this is a bit jumpy and unprofessional, therefore we will have to search through some of our other shots and see if we have another one that could be better.
• Furthermore, we may want to revise our sequencing as there is a part where the flashback triggers our protagonists movements however, there are too many clips in between that the audience cannot tell that the flashback is the trigger. Therefore, we shall go back and have a closer look at our sequencing across the whole product to ensure we haven't made this mistake again. Moreover, the class felt that the protagonists movements were too dramatic after the flashback and there needed to be more of a build up so as a group we shall revise ideas on how to create this effect because it was something we planned to do during the planning process in the first place.

What we have done well:

• We have been applauded on our use of diegetic sound due to the fact it fits the scene appropriately and adds to the sense of agitation from our protagonist.
• In addition, on the whole our camera work has been very smooth and professional for example, our zoom into our protagonists eyes has worked really well as well as our positioning of the camera for the majority of our shots.
• Finally, although we hadn't decided on the piece of music we had used for the non-diegetic score, we were praised on the choice and told it fitted the narrative perfectly. Hence, this was a positive surprise for us because we hadn't actually watched our product with the music added to it before having the class review it. 

Therefore, overall I am extremely pleased with our progress and I feel we are on track for producing a product we are all proud of and the feedback we were given today has been very constructive. However,  there is still plenty to do and lots of decisions to be made about a number of things in the near future. But, for now as a group we feel we are working well and we're on track to meet the deadlines we have been set.

Editing: Where Are We Now?

We have a deadline for the 15th February to have completed a rough cut of our coursework. So far I believe we are fully on track to meeting this deadline because most of the clips we would like to use are in the correct order along with our titles and transitions. However, we still need to find a relevant piece of music to fit our product with and this is proving to be a challenge. 

As I mentioned earlier, most of our clips are in the correct order and look good, however we are having a bit of trouble with the one of the clips where our protagonist brings the glass up towards her mouth. When we were at the location filming, we thought the shot on the camera screen looked good however, after placing it into our product and having a closer look at it we can see that the camera wobbles slightly therefore we will either need to re-shoot this or cut the shot out. 

In addition, we were criticised that the way we had shot our flashback, was not clear enough to the audience that it was indeed a flashback. Therefore, we investigated some of the controls and effects on Premiere and discovered that we could slightly adapt and change the colour of some individual clips. Therefore, we decided as a group that we would try changing the colour of the flashback clip slightly, to a nearly midway point between normal and black and white. The idea behind the black and white is to represent the clip is going back in time. However, if this is unsuccessful we will simply re-shoot this scene in a different way. 

Finding music is one of our next biggest and most important jobs because this may alter the length of some of our shots/ transitions/ titles, or change the tempo and overall mood of our piece therefore we will need to choose it quickly in order for us to adapt our product to ensure they piece together effectively. Moreover, we are in the process of deciding a name for our piece and so far 'Obsession' is the product, however, it is not set in stone. 

On the other hand, we have successfully  incorporated our titles and ensured they are all the correct and same length of time as well as chosen a text and layout for them to appear in. Our product so far is roughly a time of 1 minute and 45 seconds long and there are still a few more clips we can add in to bring it up to the required length of time. 

Overall I believe we are making good progress and we are definitely on track to meeting the deadline next week. In my opinion we are working well as a group because we have each made sure we have equally contributed to the tasks and worked individually to ensure the project moves forward. In addition, we can all work together and come to agreements when it comes to big decisions and checking over each others individual work to ensure we are all content with how our product looks. Furthermore, I am extremely pleased with my own progress because I had hardly ever even used a Mac before joining this course, however, now I have impressed myself by my own contribution to the editing tasks and have successfully edited a number of sections of our final piece. Therefore, I have shown dramatic improvement in my ability to edit and I have gained many skills from using Adobe Premiere in this technical area.