BENJAMIN RICHARDSON CANDIDATE NUMBER 1853

CLAREMONT FAN COURT SCHOOL 64680

• My production team included: Matthew Heyns 1828, Finn Hanley 1824 and Sam de Bruin 1815.
• My brief was the film opening task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film (less than 2 minutes long).
• The title of our film is 'Suspect'. It explores a murder mystery in a quiet suburban neighbourhood. Three suspects are named who have never met each other before and are deemed dangerous and one of them is responsible for the death of Lottie Wilson. Although our genre is a murder mystery drama, there is also an element of comedy.
• Watch our film opening here:

Filming

There was a good balance of who filmed what in our production, due to cast members having to appear on screen at different times. I filmed the entire of the last scene (Inspector Thorne scene). I filmed using an iPhone X which has a good camera and is very easy to use. My filming turned out to be very successful as I captures a variety of different angles and shots, including close-ups and over-the-shoulder shots.

 

Editing

Matt was the chief editor in our group as he had previous experience using programmes such as Final Cut Pro. However, we all edited the production as a group so we could all contribute our own ideas and thoughts towards the editing process. I came up with ideas to do with sound and what times title credits should appear.

 

Directing

There was also a good balance of ideas from everyone in our group. Each group member contributed useful information, making the whole process easier and smoother. For example, if a group member thought a scene could be improved they would offer their thoughts on how to improve. This allowed us to produce a great final product.

EDITS: KIERAN TUCKER WALKING

One of the main edits we had to make to our film opening was the shot of Kieran walking through the park. We had to flip the shot as in the previous scene Kieran walked off to the left. Then in the park scene, Kieran entered the shot from the left, rather than the right, which would make more sense. This was a problem as it seemed as if Kieran had changed direction off camera and it made our filming seem rushed and unprofessional.

We easily overcame this problem by using editing skills. In order to make the scenes better follow on from each other, we flipped the footage using Final Cut Pro. This edit was successful as we were able to achieve our goal of making our film opening look more professional.

EDITS: INSPECTOR THORNE'S ENVELOPE

Originally, part of our final scene was Inspector Thorne opening an envelope and looking at three blank forms. These forms were meant to be the case files of the three suspects. However, the forms were never filled in and appeared blank in our film opening. We felt this made our opening look unprofessional and rushed so we decided to replace this part with something different. We added a scene of someone dragging a body in a body bag. This allowed us to axe the unrealistic, rushed scene and replace it with a more professional scene that gives more context for the murder and helps with the enigma code.

One of our cast members, Sam, filmed himself dragging another cast member through is garage. The filming was done in a way where the identities of the characters would remain anonymous as their faces were not visible. This further adds to the mystery surrounding the murder. This also fits in with the enigma code of our film.

REFLECTIONS: ALAN CORK SCENE

An important scene in our film was the Alan Cork fishing scene. In our film opening I portrayed Alan, a fisherman who has schizophrenia. It was important that I conveyed the message that he had violent tendencies and was mentally unstable and that these factors made him a suspect in the murder of Lottie Wilson.

I managed to show the audience that Alan was a fisherman through the use of props and mise-en-scene. I dressed it overalls and a bucket hat, typical fisherman attire. I also was holding a fishing rod and sitting next to a lake. In reflection, this successfully showed the audience that Alan was a typical fisherman. I then had to communicate to the audience that Alan was mentally unstable, which was more difficult to successfully manifest. I did this by using dialogue and body language. During the scene, Alan began having a conversation with himself about seeing Lottie in the park, there is clearly nobody else around so it is obvious Alan is talking to himself which is one of the main positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Furthermore, his hunched back and poor posture suggest he is not healthy.

When reflecting upon this scene, I am happy with how it tuned out. It is clear that Alan Cork is a fisherman with schizophrenia. I feel as if I was successfully able to portray what I wanted through the use of props, dialogue and mise-en-scene.

REFINEMENTS: INSPECTOR THORNE SCENE

The scene where the audience are introduced to Inspector Thorne is the final scene of our film opening and  therefore it was very important that we executed it to perfection. This is mainly because the last scene tends to be the most memorable for audiences. In the scene, Inspector Thorne is using the phone and talking about the three suspects for the murder.

Originally, we filmed Inspector Thorne opening an envelope already on his desk and observing the data of the three suspects. This scene worked, but we felt as if there was something missing and it could have been improved. In order to portray the importance and seniority of Inspector Thorne in the police force, we casted Emily Ankers as the Inspector's assistant. This showed the audience that the Inspector was important and qualified as he had his own personal assistant. Furthermore, it highlighted the severity of the murder of Lottie Wilson, as it is now evident that one of the forces best inspectors has been put on the case.

The refinement we made was that the assistant would knock on Inspector Thorne's door and deliver him the envelope, connoting the authority and important of the Inspector to the audience. I believe that this refinement was successful and improved our final scene significantly.

CHANGES: STORYLINE

Originally, we came up with the idea of creating a film opening exploring gang life in London. We were going to take inspiration from popular BBC tv show, Peaky Blinders in order to attempt to create an accurate representation of various criminal gangs in London. We thought this may be a good idea for a number of reasons:

1. We could easily film in London as we all live nearby.
2. Our group members have watched Peaky Blinders and other similar shows about gangs so we are knowledgable in that area.
3. We liked the idea of acting as criminals and felt we could portray them well.

However, after some research and reflection on our original idea, we thought that a film opening based on gangs and violence is a bit overused and mainstream. We wanted to be more original with our idea and seem more professional, so began adapting our plot. We began discussing new ideas and agreed on making a film opening that followed an enigma code, rather than an action film as we felt this may be more unique. We also believed this plot type may be more engaging for audiences as it allows them to formulate their own ideas about the storyline.

We began to find similar films and take inspiration from watching trailers and film openings on Art of the Title. Eventually, we came up with the idea of Suspect.

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING

Although Matt was our chief editor, every member in the group helped out and were present when the editing process was taking place. We used Final Cut Pro X to edit our film opening because it offers a wide range of tools and options we could use to improve our footage. For example, the ability to rotate footage round helped us significantly with the Kieran Tucker walking scene. 

Initially, we just placed all of our chosen clips into Final Cut Pro where we were able to rearrange them into an order which we liked. Once we had done this we watched over all our raw footage to make sure there were no obstructions or problems. After we decided upon the order of footage and made sure all the footage was usable, we added the music into the editor. One benefit of using Final Cut Pro is that is allowed us to easily adjust the sound. For example, we needed to make the music quieter in order to hear the dialogue. 

Overall, I was pleased with our editing process as we managed to make our film opening look professional by making different edits and changes to our raw footage.