Editing of the final opening sequence.

 The editing of our final opening sequence took us about a week. We started our editing process by creating a new bin with the footage that we needed to use and then we just cut all of the parts of the sequence together, in the order that it was supposed to be. At the start of the editing process, I did the main part of the simple editing/cutting of the material. Throughout the whole process of editing, everyone in our group had the opportunity to do something.

Some more complicated things that I did not understand how to do I either asked someone from my group to do it or I asked help from a teacher and I did the rest. Our idea did not change at the time of editing, it changed on the shoot day, but not on the editing. The most favorite part of the editing for me was the part when we had to find the sound that would match our idea and would create both a juxtaposition and contrapuntal sound. It was one of the most interesting due to the factor that I have never done that in my life, so it was an interesting thing to learn about and experience.  We did not really remove shots, the only ones that we remove were the ones that we initially filmed only for the purpose of looking at it during editing and finding which one would look better and would make more sense for the audience members.

During editing, at the end of this process, my group and I faced some technical difficulties with the sound and how it is better to put it in the sequence. We faced that problem due to the fact that no one from my group and even me has ever used sound in the editing.  I think mainly due to the fact that I and my group cooperated well enough we were solving all of our problems/difficulties together, without blaming anyone. 

Shoot day reflection

 We started our shoot by meeting the actors and the crew members next to our media classroom. Then Tegan, Adrianna, and I have looked at the things we brought, such as props we did so in case somebody forgot something, so we could do something about it before the filming. Our group was lucky enough to bring everything that was needed and we also were lucky enough that our cast has arrived at the exact time as we said them to.  Actors also brought everything that we asked them to bring from their personal belongings. Then everyone went to the studio where our production group left some of the things that we did not need on the set. We also took all of the equipment needed for the filming in order to set it up upstairs, in the school canteen, near the lift. Talking about lighting, our group clashed with the problem that we could not use the lighting that the rest of the groups used -- the long stick-lighting. We could not use it due to the fact that the doors of the lift were constantly closing and also the fact that the lighting source was too long to fit in the lift. So instead of this type, we used the big boxed lights that were even on the special tripods.  We used a usual wide-angle lens for the camera and the black magic 4k camera in order to get a sense of naturalistic opening sequence and acting. 

To set up the equipment and lighting especially it took us about an hour. After setting up the equipment we decided to take a break it was due to both factors first,  we were already tired and second, the most important is the fact that because we were filming in the school canteen we had to rely on the school timetable. That was the other difficulty that we faced that day, on the shoot day. The good thing that really helped us as a production group and as a group of people who were filming on a Friday afternoon is the fact that our actors were professional enough to feel confident with cameras in front of them, to act in front of the other people, to not being able to look at the footage again.

And all of the other things that normally people are insecure about.  So, as I listed above, after the setting up of equipment our work went a lot quicker than we thought. We started at 9 am and finished at half to one pm, and that is including the time when we were wrapping up and setting up the equipment and getting everything ready. 

Throughout the shoot day, most of the time Tegan was the camera person, Adrianna was the director and I was helping with other, smaller things, such as holding the mic. 

 At some point, I was also directing a little and at some point, Tegan took my and Adrianna's job and Adrianna took our jobs as well. My group and I were trying to split the work as even as possible, and we also were not making somebody do any of the jobs. As my contribution to the shooting, I also brought the sequence outline shot by shot and the shoot day schedule. It was very useful on the set because towards the end of the filming my group and we were going through the shots that we already did and the shots that were left. The trickiest part of the shoot day apart from setting up and making sure that the lighting is good and the other things that are to do with setting up. The other tricky thing in my opinion was the part in the end when we were trying to film the part of the sequence that was filmed on the GoPro. It was tricky because we had to put it right up on the top corner of the lift. 

At some point at the beginning of the shoot, Tegan also had to stand very tight and uncomfortable(because the lift was very small and tight) in order to shoot the sequence from a higher angle.   

During the filming, we have applied numerous skills that we have learned in the workshops. Most of the time we were using skills that we learned in the second camera workshop, but also from the first camera workshop such as bubbling the camera, that is what I did at the beginning of the shoot. 

Due to the fact that I am an editor for my group, I am excited about editing all of the parts together, but one of the biggest parts that I am excited to edit is the CCTV camera and when the main girl character is walking out from a lift. It will be interesting to edit because we were using a different camera for that exact shot.                                                                                                                                                      

Concluding, I believe that for the next project in order to be more organized as a group we have to look at the area where we would film in order to understand what type of equipment we will need to use in our filming in order to reduce the time on set for both actors and the crew.  During the shoot day, I have also learned how and with what angle I should point the mic, how it is better to do it so that the mic would catch the sound we need and it would not catch the sound we do not need.  If I had to do that exact shoot again I would have done more practice on how to apply fake blood, so it looks realistic because in my opinion my group.

conclusion to the similar products and conventions research.

 Overall, all of the products that I have done the research on have some things in common. Such as the fact that all of the products used pretty much similar editing and camera techniques that my group and I would like to use during the shoot day. 

All of the conventions that I have done the research on are with my genre due to the factors that 1) all of the conventions either included some scenes with killing or most of the products included blood and killings. 2) also, almost all of the conventions were based upon the woman's main strong character, which the main part of our concept. Due to the fact that all of the things listed above are also going to be in our opening sequence, I believe that that will make quite an impact on the audience members. Mainly due to the fact that it is pretty unusual to see the strong woman main protagonist character in the movie. Regarding the differences, some of the conventions the main female character had different costumes and settings, that inspired me on the idea and realization of the fact that our concert is rare. It is not going to be similar to any of the films and other products that I have looked at. Our concept and the final product will be unique. Talking about the target audience of our concept, I believe that the products that I have done research on are standing in the same category of a similar target audience.  Some of the products like the film 'Peppermint'

inspired me to make the main woman character more powerful by making her wear more sporty clothes, rather than casual. The other product like the film 'Drive' informed me that filming the fight sequence in the lift is tricky especially if the fight sequence is only in the lift. 

Similar products and convections research.

 The genre of our final product will be a thriller. It will be a thriller with some elements of action, however, there will not be as many action elements included, so we decided that we will have one main genre -- thriller and sub-genre thriller with elements of action within it.   

In order to be able to analyze and compare some of the media products, I have decided to choose four different media products from three different areas that are related to our opening titled sequence. I chose four products from films, TV shows, and a video game.

Starting with the similar film(s) I have decided to look at the film Peppermint that was distributed for the first time in 2018 and it was directed by Pierre Morel, The top-billed cast was as following: Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz. And the film was distributed by STXfilms. 

In order to be able to identify how is this product similar to the concept of our opening scene, I have watched a trailer for the film.  And from the thriller, it is clear that the main character is the same as we see our main character in the sequence we will be filming. A strong, independent woman. She is strong both physically and mentally. Continuing with the narrative of the film, I believe that the narrative only similar in the fact that she is taking revenge on everyone who killed her family, whereas in our film the main character is also taking revenge but on people who did something not so good to her or her friends in the past. 

The other thing that is likely to be in our sequence that is in the film is the camera techniques such as tracking shots, handheld camera, and low/high camera angles, and the rest. Because both our sequence and the film 'Peppermint' are action/thriller genre. 

Here is a trailer for the film, where I got screenshots and references from the film. 

The second film that has some similar things to our final idea is the film that everyone from my production group decided to do.  The film is 'Drive' which was distributed in 2011 by the Film district.

  Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and the top-billed cast was Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and Bryan Cranston.  In order to be able to identify how is this product similar to the concept of our opening scene, I have watched a thriller for the film.  The actual concept of the film is not similar to the concept of our opening sequence. The main character of the film 'Drive' is a man, whereas, in our sequence, it is a woman. The things in the film that are pretty much the same as the concept of our idea are the camera techniques that have been used, even some scenes are the same. Like the scene where Ryan's character is kicking the villain

is the same moment that we will have in our final product and the fight also happens in the lift like in our idea.  The film also itself includes a lot of cut editing transitions and a synchronous soundtrack which we would like to use in editing our own opening sequence. 

It is also noticeable through the trailer that most of the scenes are filmed from the handheld camera, which is one of the techniques of filming that my group and I would like to use on the shoot day. The theme of the film and the narrative is not the same as our concept and idea. although, the color scheme and the costumes with props that have been used throughout the main part of the film are pretty much what we would like to see in the concept of our opening sequence.  Overall, the camera work, some scenes, editing approach, and costumes are similar to our concept of the opening sequence. 

Here is a trailer for the film:

Apart from looking at the similar films as our predicted opening sequence and in order to have a wider range of examples I have chosen to also talk about the TV series. 

The name of the series is 'You' it has been distributed for the first time in 2018 and it was created by Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti, the top cast is Penn Badgley, Victoria Pedretti, and Ambyr Childers.  The TV show is distributed by the cooperation of Netflix and Lifetime Television, an American TV channel.  

By watching the trailer for the first season it is clear that the plotline, and characters are not gong to be any way near to the plot line or characters of our concept. However, with this TV show, the concept of our opening sequence has the same theme of an innocent main character which later on opens up as a bad one. Also the costumes, light, and color scheme of the whole TV series are similar to what we would like to see in our concept of the opening sequence. In our concept, we would like to see characters in light colored, basic clothes, like in this TV Show, and the same color/lighting scheme. Consequently, in this TV show there are also numerous editing techniques that me and my production group would like to use in the editing of our final product. A lot of fade to black traditions and cuts, eye-line matches as well.  Concluding this product has some similar aspects to our concept. of the opening sequence. 

In order to be able to identify whether or not there are similar things with my group's concept I have decided to watch a trailer for that TV show. 

In order to have a wider range of examples I have also decided to look at the similar in conseptual way video game. It is slightly different to a film or/and TV show. Although, it still have similar. The game that I think have similar conventions with our concept is ' Shadow of Tomb Rider'.

That part of the game was distributed in 2018, it was distributed by Crystal Dynamics in the United States and in the rest of the world apart from Canada, in Canada the game was distributed by Eidos Montreal. The main cast of the people whos voice you can hear during the game was from the following actors: Camilla Luddington, Earl Baylon, Carlos Leal and Erika Soto.  

 Because of the fact that most of the games genre thriller are lset not in the casual site. So it was tricky to find something that is very close to our concept. However, this game includes some similar elements to our main idea. As for all of the product that I did research on I have watched the thriller for the game in order to be able to spot the similarities. The main thing that is similar to our concept is the fact that the main charchtar is a strong, wild, independent woman. Who is ready to do anything in order to survive. In our concept, however, we ave that same strong, independent woman, but in our idea she is not wild and does not require any sort of die or live day-to-day bases.

The other thing that is similar with that concept of our opening sequence is the use of editing techniques of camera. Due to the fact that the game is action/thriller genre it includes a lot eye-line match techniques and also there are a lot hand held and tracking shots, like we are planning to have in our concept of the opening sequence. 

In order to be able to identify whether or not there are similar things with my group's concept, I have decided to watch a trailer for that video game. 

Research into filming role.

 There are in total three roles on the set that will be done within our group. They will be as follows Editor; director and a camera person. Each role is responsible for certain parts during the shoot day. Media production is a social collaboration that requires a division of labor -- specialized skills in order to manufacture the right shots in getting the correct genre conventions and tone of my opening sequence. 

The director -- is the one who is responsible for organizing everyone who is on set and involved in filming, and also the organization of actors. The director's job is also to be positive throughout the shoot so that actors would be positive as well and everything went well. So its job is to direct both actors and a camera person in a way of how things should look better. Director also has to look at the playback in order to be able to tell what needs to be corrected for the scene to look better. On the day of our actual shoot day, the director will be Tegan.

Cameraperson (operator) -- its job is to be in charge of any technical equipment, essentially to film everything and also to be able to adapt to any last-minute changes. Cameraperson also has to listen to what the director is saying because the director is essentially the only person who can see from the side what changes has to be done. On our actual day of shooting the cameraperson for our group will be Adrianna.

Continuing with the editor,  this job is done only after the shoot day on the set, during our shoot day, the person who will be responsible for editing will be helping both director and a cameraperson. But mostly film director with props and doing make up for the actors. The editor will also be helping the camera person by supporting the filmed material with a shot list and a storyboard, this will be done so that the crew is sure that they have all of the footage filmed before the editing. The role of editor in our group I will do. 

As I above I will be in charge of editing. I decided that I want to be in charge of editing because so far I have enjoyed doing it and I am also very interested in the way in which our opening sequence will be edited and the way it will look in the end, as a completely edited version. Before the shoot, I will have to print out the storyboard, shooting list, and shooting schedule. I will also have to make sure that I have a copy of all of the listed above on the phone, in case I will lose the hard copy of it. My role is important on the set because I will be able to help both actors and a camera person. I will also be able to help with the smaller things like holding a mic or holding a piece of light equipment.  I think that I and my production group on the shoot day might have problems with communication because our group is pretty creative and we might have a lot of ideas but not everyone will agree with every idea and etc. I also think that we might have problems with setting up the camera in the lift. Because as I and my production group found out the lift where we are going to film the sequence is pretty tight and it is long rather than wide, so it will be pretty tricky to set up equipment in the lift. Although I think that we will be able to work with it by either simply not closing the lift's doors or by using a smaller camera if we will be able to, we can also have one member of the crew in the lift instead of having two or more. due to the fact that during the filming I will not have any job to do in order to have the genre conventions, I will be helping other members of my group to put fake blood on one of the actors and during editing, I will make sure that all of the punches and any violent/aggressive scenes will be made with sound effects and soundtrack that will match everything and that will also assure audience members that our sequence is a thriller and action film.