#1- How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
#2- How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
#3- How did your production skills develop through this project?
#4- How did you integrate technologies- software, hardware and online- in this project
Brutal Sentencing- Adam Alberti, Angelina Lasalle, Kevin Gutierrez
Intro:
After we began editing, we quickly realized that our audio choices were most likely the most important ones we would have to make. Tension builds off our music choices, which is significant because this is a slasher horror film. The wrong music choices would leave our opening feeling dull.
Suspenseful music:
Majority of our music for our intense scenes comes from KerikMMusic. His music has a dark vibe that slowly builds which signals to the audience that something bad is coming. It also creates that cinematic feel that we were searching for, which helps us time cuts and movements throughout the scenes.
Sound effects:
In addition to the music, we needed to include sound effects that would help scare the audience. We included a jump scare audio, one of rustling behind a garbage can, and another of a phone ringing. These all insinuate significant moments because they help build the suspense, and add a scariness to the scene.
Reflection:
Now that we have included all our music and sound effects, I feel confident on what we have done. Our audio choices will create the feeling of unease and terror that we wanted the audience to feel off the bat. Now, we need to move everything into Premiere Pro and sync everything up to reach our final product. I like the pace we are moving at and I feel confident on what we've completed.
Scenes 4 and 5
Intro:
Going into day 2, we knew there was gonna be a more demanding workload, so we all came in with the mindset that we needed to be focused. Scenes 4 and 5 took place outside in the driveway and closes on my character, Lisa, waking up to a phone call from the police. We felt some pressure because this is what our story has been leading up to, the killing of Derek. These scenes took longer due to all the cues and cuts that needed to be made.
Shot outcomes:
The scene in the driveway took the most time because everything needed to be perfectly timed in order for it to not look awkward on film. The most tension in this seen comes from the shot-reverse-shot between Derek and the bush, because the audience already knows there is a threat. We then cut to a long shot from across the road where the killer pops out of the shadows and runs over to Derek. The killer then cleans the knife off, which shows the audience his task was done. Unlike scene 4, scene 5 was relatively easy to complete. My character Lisa wakes up to a phone call from the police asking her to come in for questioning.
Complications:
Despite scene 5 being easier than scene 4, we still had a few complications. Getting the timing between the dialogue of the police officer and my responses was difficult because I needed to come across as tiered, but I also needed to keep the entire scene under 30 seconds. This took multiple tries so that we could execute the scene exactly as we had envisioned it, which led us to make a few changes to the dialogue of the phone call.
Mise-en-scène:
We wanted the outdoor scenes to feel different from the indoor ones, so we tried to make it feel unsettling to let the audience know something bad is about to happen. The diegetic sounds of the outdoors replaced the music mid-scene, which made the scene a nervous feel. The killers costume looked great at night because the brighter colors of the robe and mask contrasted well against the darkness. Lisa's bedroom in scene five had a bright natural light, insinuating morning time, which completely shifts the tone from scene 4.
Reflection:
Filming on day two took a lot longer than we anticipated, but it was all worth it because we had completed filming. Scene 4 was the most demanding scene between the two days of filming because everything needed to synch up exactly. Overall, I am happy with what we've brought to screen and now we are ready to edit it all together.
Intro:
Because of the fact that we had completed three big scenes in day one, we decided it would be a good idea to get a head start on editing because we have a decent amount of time before we begin filming again.
Researching:
Our group as a whole had a general idea on how to use Premiere Pro, Kevin especially, so he was able to guide us through it. This made it significantly easier to navigate the software, and I was able to move through it with little complications.
Process:
We started by importing the clips into Premiere through using a Google Drive, which allowed us to share the clips with each other as well.
We were unable to use the built-in team project feature, wasn't working well, so we decided to use a site called TeamViewer. This let us work through the screen of one person.
Day one of editing really only let us put all the clips in, with no actual cuts or edits, but it gave us an idea on how quick we should be working to have efficient work days.
Reflection:
Having prepped the first few clips into our editing softwares puts us at ease, and lets me know that we are prepared to begin editing when day two rolls around. It keeps us knowing what our next steps must be, and leaves for a quicker editing process because we already fixed some of the complications we were having.
Scenes 1, 2, and 3
Intro:
We finally made it to the first day of filming and the energy was high. After weeks of figuring out a final script, costuming, and going over our camera shots and angles, bringing it to life with the camera felt like a weight off our shoulders. We covered the first three scenes of our film, Brutal Sentencing, which all take place indoors at night.
Shot outcomes:
While filming, the shots came out almost exactly as we pictured them to. Our opening shot of Derek scribbling on the paper, followed by an over the shoulder shot of him tearing the paper set the tone for our film. The body bag on the floor wasn't initially obvious until Derek goes over to kick it out of anger, leaving the audience to question the "peekaboo" of the body bag. The POV of the fridge took a few shots to get correctly, but it ended up being one of the best shots of the day.
Mise-en-scène:
Within the first three scenes, our main focus was what was in the frame rather than any movements. For example, the bulletin board was a significant detail. Names being crossed out with photos pinned over it allows the audience to get an idea of who Derek is without audibly saying anything. We kept the lighting low, creating an eerie feel to all three scenes. In the kitchen scene, the jump scare of the judge through the window gives a cue that there is a threat.
Reflection:
Day one was successful and a lot got done. Getting everything set up took longer than expected, which added some pressure on us because it created a time crunch. In scene 3, there was also a few takes where the audio from the phone call wasn't clear so we needed to go through it again. The unsettling tone we've created is exactly what we wanted, so I am happy with what was accomplished just in day one. This leaves me excited to see what we get done on day two.
Behind the scenes:
Why we storyboard:
Storyboarding is an essential step to any filming process, to grasp a general idea to what we want each specific scene to look like, down to the costuming of the character. It also helps us understand how long each scene will take, and helps us figure out if we need to cut out anything to ensure we stay within our given time.
Learning to storyboard:
Although our teacher explained and taught us how to storyboard, we wanted to get a stronger understanding, so we went to YouTube. The video we found was simple and straightforward, leaving no room for confusion, which was really helpful.
#1- How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? #2- How does your product engage w...
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