FINAL EDIT 2

 As we continued editing, we began to cut down our rushes to make sure they flow smoothly from shot to shot; when doing this, we made some alterations to our original story board based on the suspense, type of shot, and shots that we had. Throughout the process of cutting down each shot, we came into a few difficulties when it came to continuity during specific and difficult shots that we had used to master coverage method on. For example, when Diasy attacks Mike, we had shot the same moment from three different angles to achieve the snappy, fast paced and tense nature of the shot. 

However, when editing this specific moment, it was extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact moment to cut from one shot to another whilst staying consistent to the characters on screen at that exact moment and the setting of the shot. However, this was remedied by the variety of shots we filmed as we could cut from in and out of the same type of shot so that we could uphold continuity during this intense moment within our sequence. Whilst working on the order of shots and cutting them down, our main focus for our opening from the beginning was to create and build tension from the targeted audiences, and editing is the most fundamental part of creating this desired effect; a way in which we achieved this was the speed at which the shots changed from one angle, character, moment to another. 

As we edited, we also learnt that a variety in the rhythm of shots also elicited this same response, and if not enhanced the tension of the scene. This is why we choose to keep in the longer, more stretched out shots. A notable example of this would be the shot that tracks Mike for around 6 seconds before moving across a tree trunk, and then focusing on Daisy as she waits behind this tree. This shot is significant in establishing this effect and works brilliantly to introduce our protagonist.  

Whilst editing, we kept aware of what the preferences of our target audience would be at all times, making sure we upheld the conventions of our opening. Ways in which we achieved the horror and thriller conventions of our opening was through the editorial choices; for example, keeping the tempo fast paced and slow at places to build the suspense, choosing where to introduce certain characters and when to give clues of motifs, and finally correcting the colour gradient to impose the dark and gloomy atmosphere that is so relevant for our genre. All of these different elements help our opening to appeal to our target audiences and help ensure their engagement through these conventions.   

After completing our edited rushes and ordering them to the desired product, we then moved onto looking into the sounds that we already had, what we needed to add from the effects library and if a soundtrack was necessary. Instantly, it became clear that the sound we used needed to be a fundamental aspect of our sequence, and how we used it to create tension and build the mood and atmosphere. 

Firstly, we began by altering the sounds we had within our shots, cutting them and transferring them to moments that is worked with. We did this technique several times by taking sound from different clips and transferring them to the clips we wanted to use, either because the sound was better or because it added a desired atmosphere that worked specifically within a shot. After adjusting the sound from what we already had from our edited sequence, we then went back from the beginning and noting down exactly where and what additional sound effect we needed to add to enhance an action, effect

or moment. For example, when Zaza gets shot by one of the hunters, we needed to add in a shot gun sound effect which would match the same sound that the gun would make. To do this, we searched via the sound effects on adobe and trailed and tested various sound effects that matched effectively. We used this method throughout our opening to build upon sounds we either already had and needed to enhance or to add in sounds that we needed against the action but either were not picked up by the microphone during the shoot or that were not made entirely.

As we edited in these sounds, we ran into difficulties when trying to match up the exact moments that the sounds were applicable, so it took a while to figure out where it seemed most natural. After editing in the desired diegetic sound of the opening, we noticed that the volume of certain sections needed to be altered to again create an appropriate background noise; for example, we really wanted to highlight Daisy's introduction, so we turned up the volume via the effects control in the top left-hand corner to enhance her fractured breaths.  

After editing all of the diegetic sound into our draft, we felt it really needed a soundtrack in the background that would enhance the action and help build the mood and atmosphere of the sequence; we began by taking various soundtracks from YouTube and adobe stock and place them within different clips that we felt matched the action, however, when looking at the footage back, we realised that using differing tracks worked against the desired effect that we wanted to create and hindered the work we had done on the sound and shots. Instead, we began looking for a soundtrack that we could use throughout, cutting in and out and using specific moments to match the action; we then found a track that we felt could be applicable to the whole of our sequence.  

This process was again demanding when adjusting the sections of the track to match the footage. However, this soundtrack was extremely effective as it perfectly mirrored the suspense of the action and enhanced the tension. To improve the sound overall, collectively we went back and made alterations with the volume levels to make sure we were not taking any effect away from the sound track potentially overpowering the visual element. Originally, we had a different soundtrack that played with the titles at the end of the sequence, however again after watching this back we agreed that it didn’t work with the overall style of the sequence and took it out, leaving instead an eerie ambient soundtrack to play. Before finishing our sound, we needed to add in effects that would enable smooth transitions from one sound or volume to another; to do this we used ‘constant power’ which applied the transitional effect.  

Finally, we curated our titles, making sure the fonts, colours and placement all added to the overall desired effect; at the beginning of our editing process, we agreed that we wanted to begin our sequence with at least three titles, with an underlying background soundtrack whilst they appear and then starting with the action. 

HERE IS A REFERENCE PHOTO OF THE 'LOOK' WE WANTED FOR OUR OWN TITLES 

When it came to creating our titles at the beginning, we included: the finance, production company and the director's name. Designing these titles, was easy when coming up with the names we decided to go with; for example, our production company was named “hemisphere productions”. To instantly invoke audiences' engagement, we used to colour our fonts with a bright yellow and a bold font. We also chose to position the fonts transferring across the screen from the bottom left to the centre to the bottom right to subconsciously introduce the audience to the journey element of the piece. When it came to creating and producing the title of the film; we collectively brainstormed potential film names that somehow resonated with the films narrative, themes, characters, and genre. We finally produced the name, “This Is The Day” 

as our title which we felt worked best out of the other titles as it resonated with aspects of the narrative whilst being subtly vague. We kept out titles uniform and matching, so again we used the same shade of yellow whilst changing the font to much bigger and impactful and having it fill up the entirety of the shot to establish its effect after the blackout.  

Overall, the outcome of our editing was extremely successful in acquiring the desired final look of out assembled shots to create our coursework for an opening title sequence; moments whereby I personally felt worked well was during the long shot of the camera panning from Mike walking and tracking him, with an effective ambient sound track, to then the focus switching over as the camera pans across a tree trunk to then focusing on Daisy as we are first introduced to her. I really love this shot as it perfectly encapsulates the tension between both characters and builds the suspense of the characters intense proximity. A moment, however, that was slightly less effective was the shot of the first girl's death, which already came with issues during the day of the shoot as we only had one shot to get it right in due to the fake blood that we used to depict the death. As we could only do this shot once, there were various faults that we only saw during the edit; for example, the bend of the knife when slitting her throat is visible but we were forced to use this as it is the only shot we had, which I feel brings down the quality of the sequence. However, this specific issue was out of our control completely. Overall, I am extremely happy with our final edit and feel it works effectively to target the audiences and engage tension. 

 

 

 

 

POST-PRODUCTION: FINAL EDIT 1

First starting editing, we collectively began by looking through all of the rushes shot on the day of the shoot; in order to organise of shots in chronological order, we made bins for each of the different sections of our opening. Making bins for: when Zara is being hunted, when Zaza dies, the different shots that we collected of the hunters including their establishing shots of the area, introducing Daisy, all of the shots that daisy had individually and finally we made a bin of the last moments that we shot when Daisy ‘hurts’ the last hunter. After looking through and ‘binning’ every shot that we wanted to potentially use, naming them the exact shot, we then started looking into the opening shots that we wanted.  

When looking through our raw rushes, there were some mistakes that we noticed which were not prevalent on the day of the shoot as we could not look back at the footage. As a group, I can say that we found watching back footage fairly difficult as there were shots that we wished we had shot but did not know we needed to during the shoot day. Personally, I think this issue could have been avoided if we had stuck with the ‘master coverage’ method that we had initially started doing, this way we could have had a clearer continuity throughout. An example of shots we missed were shots of the hunter walking away in the right direction, where we shot him walking the wrong way, causing a continuity mistake.

 Early choices that we made included how the opening started itself; originally, we wanted the action to start straight away however, after looking and targeting the exact shot that we wanted our sequence to open on, we felt it would be more effective to introduce some titles and then shock our audience with the first shot of Zaza running using a handheld. We then played around with various alterations for the beginning and ended up with changing our initial opening moment to display a series of titles and then into the action; we felt this way it was far more engaging and once we had ensembled all of the raw rushes into the order of our sequence, this was a much more engaging way to open.  

To begin with, we played around with what shots would look best together based on the angle and movement and dragged the shots that we wanted onto the timeline. This took a lot of discussion as a group, as we needed to make sure that we had the right shots before editing them, adding sound and any effects. Another key change that we made early on in our editing journey, was the way in which our characters were first introduced; originally, we wanted the hunters and the first girl being hunted to appear simultaneously, one after the other straight away to instantly reveal to the audience exactly what the context was to build tension. However, after watching this first draft back, we made the decision to only introduce the hunters after Zaza had been killed, which actually built even more suspense that we had anticipated.  

MISE-EN-SCENE VIDEO ANALYSIS

Here is our Mise-en-scene video analysis on our final opening: I made this in collaboration with Cole Flaherty:

SAUL AND ELAINE BASS RESEARCH

Saul Bass and his wife, Elaine Bass, are Americas most prominent graphic designers and worked with the world's best film makers earning their trademark for their epic title sequences, film posters and corporate logos.

The couple worked alongside, co-designing some of the most iconic title sequences, however, Elaine remained uncredited for most of her career, she is more recently gaining coverage on the work she has done over the years. Elaine and Saul first co-designed Henry Kubick's, “Spartacus” released in 1960, after being Sauls assistant beforehand.

Saul Bass himself first became recognised for his unique style in Otto Preminger’s “The Man with the Golden Arm”, 1955. Soon after, Bass and his wife Elaine began working for the most prominent film makers of the time, from Hitchcock's ‘North by Northwest”, released in 1959:

“Vertigo”, 1958:

and “Psycho”, 1960:

Bass’s title sequences were described by him as, “try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass] 

Further down in their career together, the couple created the most iconic title sequences for Martin Scorsese, with their iconic style appearing in title sequences for “Goodfellas”1990, “The Age of Innocence” 1993 and arguably Scorsese’s most prominent “Casino” released in 1995.  

The Bass legacy were not only credited for their distinctive title sequences but also their graphic design for film posters that arguably changed the visuals for film advertisement forever; film posters beforehand usually contained some sort of image, whether that be a key moment or character from the film that would somehow summarise the films narrative. Bass took a very different approach, creating his distinctive trademark through his simplicity and symbolic designs that would brilliantly capture the essence of the films key conventions. Some examples of his work include; Ottos Preminger’s “Man with the Golden Arm”, “ Autonomy of a Murder” 

 

This title sequence in Hitchcock's 19659,“North by North West”, brilliantly embeds the films overall theme, exploring the use of the cross roads that progressively represent the characters and themes within the film through the design layout of this title sequence; This thriller is certainly established through the use of the not only the non-diegetic sound track, of the high intensity and wavering beats but also the titles themselves. Bass has chosen to include three distinct sections within this title sequence that establish key locations and moments within the film, beginning with the symbolic and graphic green and blue gridded background which displays fast transitions of the large titles swiping in and out almost as a vehicle would. And then slowing fading into a seemingly busy New York location, giving clues about where the action takes place. 

The fonts of these titles are also telling in the key concepts within the film; for example, the crossroad analogy is further communicated through the graphics within the title appearing at the beginning of the sequence. Which is further enhanced through the graphics of bold white lines appearing to float in and out as the titles appear, again giving off the effects of a cross road:

Overall, the simplicity of this sequence brilliantly communicates the key themes and mood of the film through the distinctive sections that display a certain place, tone, and theme, giving clues of the films narrative and sets expectations for the audience.