THE OPENING HAS ARRIVED!!

I would love to talk about the film and the effort, quantity, ideas, ratio ect that my team and I placed into the film. Though I do understand that you would want to watch the opening and then read the journey to get there. Therefore, I shall just post it below. Here it is below:

Enjoy :)

 

I think that the opening sequence of Paramnesia is better than how we first thought it out to be. The journey that got us to where we are now with the video has definitely been a long one. I have now come to understand why it takes so long for sequels to be released and the intensity of making your product a success and 'perfect'. The changes I first complained about at the beginning has now become a highlight. I feel very fortunate to have the team who can on this 'road' with me.

Thank you, Romina Noli and Natalia Frain-Gutierrez.

Most of all thank you audience for watching :) 

P.S (& reading)

WATCH, READ AND LISTEN to my EVALUATIOOOOOOOON...

If only there was a way to have this blog summed up into seven 'little' questions. Made all nice and pretty and has been presented on a website. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Well, you're in luck. As the link to that wonderful world of a website is plastered below.

 

 

 

Our Jobs and Progession - The Journey: The last 6+ Months or So.. *CRY* ;(

Looking back on journey to the inevitable moment when we disperse to the examination work *crys*. I have come to realise that our journey has been a tough one. From the very beginning, I feel as though the what held our teamwork back was the establishment of each individuals role within the group. As with many new things we get immersed into, it's about knowing where we 'fit' in. After all we are all small pieces of a big jigsaw.

As this was made into a big hassle at the beginning - particularly conducted by me - I think that our organisational skills got better. It allowed us to know where everyone within the group was in regards to the job they were given (please look at my previous posts to know those jobs). Tight contact that we held with one another was through a Media Group that we had frequent multi-group discussions on. This group was created by Romina Noli on Whatsapp in November 2013. Whatsapp is an app where texts and other communications are 'free'. Luckily, It allowed our ideas and changes to be tracked and allowed everyone in the group to know of any big implements on the film. 

 

I also feel as though the group made us stronger as friends, which was bound to happen, where we became a better, more organised and well structured TEAM. 

Our Film Distributors and Logo

Distributed by Touchwood.

 

As we wanted our opening to seem as real as possible we felt it was necessary to put the production company and distributors of the film at the beginning before it starts. Common to ALL films, not just those in the thriller genre. It seemed like a necessary thing to have that way the opening come across as though it is legitimate and authentic. That way the audience (in reality, close family members, friends and those attending Chelsea Academy. In theory, people who enjoy watching short films and thrillers) would be more likely to watch the whole of the film as they forget the details of those who actually made it - AS Media Studies sixth-formers - and would enjoy the opening sequence more and, hopefully, they would get into the film.

The Touchwood logo was allowed to be used by the owner who, being Natalia's father. This meant that we didn't actually need to come up with a contract for using it, nor did we need to 'properly' ask for permission. Where we would have asked for a conglomerate company, such as Warner Bros. We would have created a logo of our own but at the time we did run out of it. It was unfortunate as it would have meant that we established our own 'brand' and highlighted our ICT skills. It also would have meant that we needn't go through the hassle of contacting film distributors and/or producers. 

Later on whist editing Paramnesia, Natalia and Romina can up with the idea of contacting Warner Brothers in order to get a more realistic and mainly a recognised production/distribution company in the opening sequence. Being highly recognised due to it being a conglomerate film company - and better yet, an American conglomerate film company. Look at the fifth cut of Paramnesia below.

I personally believe that this was a good decision as it makes the opening become more apparent as an opening. It also makes it kinder to watch, by recognition, and more sophisticated. Fortunately, the only hassle as to getting Warner Bros' animated logo was Natalia having to email them. That way it does still state the copyright entitlement and we have informed them of what we were doing with it. Below is the email Natalia sent using their customer feedback forum (I edited the 4 screenshots that she sent and just combined them into one).

Luckily, yesterday (Tuesday 8th April 2014) I was able to quickly create our logo for the production company on PowerPoint which didn't take me any time at all. 

Three different designs; 

Without spots - Simplistic, and simplicity is key. 

3 Spots - As there's three of us and it looks like a paw, hense "Little". 

5 Spots - Because it looks more professional. 

In the end we chose 5 spots, me guessing that it looks nicer, more sophisticated and professional.

 

 

Also, ages before this. Sometime in January I came up with different names as to what our distrubution company can be called. This is the conversation below. 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought that these names would go well with what we were like as a group and how Paramnesia reflected us as a group. Also, that they were just funny and mentioned the money we placed in. Our blood, sweat, tears and pockets. 

More Audience Feedback

As I was able to obtain an opportunity sample's audience feedback, they responded to different versions of Paramnesia. The opportunity sample being both bad and good. They aren't our target audience, and they may be biased due to them all attending the school. Either way, I was able to gain lots of audience feedback. I would explain their responses but it's easier (and more fun) to allow their reactions to speck for itself. Watch on below:

Reactions to:

Paranmesia - Final Cut

Paramnesia 5.0

 

 

 

Paramnesia 2.0

 

(Natalia and Romina was able to get the reaction of the video above)

Keywords

Along my journey I have learnt a lot about media studies and how the film industry works. This has meant that I have picked up a few media terms along the way that describes the majority of the process. I feel as though learning these new words I have established myself as a media student, especially when I find myself using them in my everyday language.

The keywords are as followed:

Media Glossary by DestineeBishop

Editing - The Changes Between Rough Cut 2 and Beyond

In total, including the final cut, there are six different versions of Project R, turned into Paramnesia. Each one has had at least one thing changed, where Natalia and I have advised Romina in what to edit - we each input an idea. Below I will give a brief description as to how each rough cut was changed from the one before it and why.

Rough Cut 1 - Published 18th December 2013

As our post-production was merged with the production stages, this was basically all the raw footage placed together from what we had so far. Which at the time was only the interrogation scene. Luckily, as we had a script (that was annotated with camera angles, movements and spontaneous dialogue) that we was able to follow as well as a minor storyboard from which we can tell where to place each shots due to the chronological order on the script and storyboard. As of this no actual 'editing' had actually commenced.


Rough Cut 2 - Published 17th December 2013

There are simple, and very obvious reasons as to why we needed to remake the video. One is the lighting placed upon the flashbacks. We felt that it was necessary to do due to the 'present day' shots and flashbacks both having the same lighting - which is just being bright. It also got cut down to 2.05 minutes where it was at 3.06 minutes previously. Because of this it meant that some dialogue and 'scenes' had been eradicated. For example, the part where Ralivia is seen taking the tablet and liquid was taken out, as well as the nurse checking what's in Ralivia's mouth. Other minor edits such as my voice at the end was 'scrapped' too.


Rough Cut 3 - Published 31st January 2014

This was the first seeing of Touchwood, the first film distribution company we decided to use as we believed, at the time, that we were unable to us Warner Bros or another similar conglomerate company. Another thing was the soundtrack that was added, and is continuously playing throughout the interrogation scene, this music Romina was able to find on her own accord. However, the soundtrack used for the second half of the sequence - when you see Ralivia in her room - both Romina and I was able to find a soundtrack called "Evening of Chaos" on a website called Incompetch. Where their music is free to use - copyright free.

I feel as though the choice of that particular soundtrack was able to really show what we wanted to represent. The ultimate soundtracks that we decided against was either "Evening of Chaos" or "Night of Chaos". We decided "Evening of Chaos" due to the percussion, strings and various other instruments what were used in the piece. I personally felt as though it was able to bring a pit of diversity into the sequence. Hopefully, to an extent where the audience are able to decode Ralivia to have a deeper meaning - not just "the mentally ill patient". Below you are able to hear a Soundcloud of "Evening of Chaos".



As you may have already inferred, the final part to Paramnesia was added where she is seen walking into her room. Due to our production and post-production stages being integrated. Editing had already taken place on the clip and the credits were added. Font was chosen by Romina where we all decided that a new job title would appear when the beat rises in pitch, which was every 4 counts/beats. This made the credits and soundtrack become in sync with one another, where the audience is able to predetermine when the next entitlement would be shown. This along with the repeated flow, I feel, was able to extend (and create) apprehension within the audience member.

Basically - it was a good decision. Also, some flashbacks were deleted due to them not really being necessary and we needed to save time. The gun-shot sound was also removed as it sounded "fake" from audience feedback. Dialogue in-between the flashbacks was able to make the audience infer what happened during the flashback when they come to seeing it once again. This also extended the suspense and usually questions followed after I got them to watch it.

Other things such as an effect before and after a flashback was added to make sure that the audience know its an established flashback.


Rough Cut 4 - Published 12th March 2014

The non-diegetic sound when the parents were arguing was quietened, making the parents seem further away. This is what we wanted to encode to the audience - that their argument had started from further away in the house. Where the audience could possibly decode the footage as though the arguments that the parents have with one another is a regular occurrence. It could be interpreted further by seeing a young Ralivia hiding under the table. This shot was vital for our sequence as it is a major connotation of the abuse of a child, in this case, Ralivia being neglected. We wanted to express her family life as an unhappy one (which is ironic as a child's table cloth is seen to be covering the table). Where her parents don't care about her well-being and the effect the arguments may have over her mental state. Another convention of an unhappy childhood is children hiding, and making them be as small as possible. Which is what we wanted the audience decode once again. In turn this can could make the audience urn towards the protagonist - Ralivia.

Another thing that was changed was the seeing the nurse walk into- and out of the door. We thought that it would be more effective if the audience weren't to know of the true nature of the Nurse. This would be able to extend the audiences'  indecisiveness as to who she is in the film, let alone sequence. I also have reason to believe that Romina was able to change the lighting in the frames during this rough cut as it seems to change from time to time. This was a fault made during the production stages, where it shows how amazing editing can be to change it during the post-production stage.

The soundtrack heard at the beginning also changed as it was specially made by Natalia's friend. It was suited for the opening and therefore was 'specially' designed for the interrogation scene. Which made it look even better and seem it too. The long shot of Ralivia in the bed was eradicated in order to make it scarier to fir the audience, where a multiple shots of the scream was played (it's kind of like a jump-cut). Even though this is a typical convention of a horror, I still believed that I would be effective, and so did my team.


Rough Cut 5 - Published 4th April 2014

I think the only change that the only change made to this edition was the eyes of the Nurse. Romina was able to 'copy and paste' they eyes of her to make them remain stationary. The reason for this is because she looked into the camera with is really bad continuity, as we wanted the film to look as realistic as possible. Therefore, if the camera is acknowledged it shows that they actors are being filmed. Most probably, the eyes could be seen by the audience, which is something we didn't want. This is also the version where the Warner Bros logo was added. Where it makes the film look more professional and become established as a film opening, due to this appearing before any film starts.


Rough Cut 6 (Final Cut) - Published 9th April 2014

The only change made was adding the logo that I made for our production company  - Little Productions - at the beginning of the opening after the conglomerate distributor where it would most commonly be placed.


I am able to recall Romina spending lots of time on centring the Doctor in the middle of the frame. She has told me how she needed to add a photo behind the Doctor whilst he talks as she's needed to crop the clip. Meaning that she's needed to fill the empty space with what was once there, being a photo. One time it was restoring the handle on the cabinet behind the Doctor when it has a mid-shot of him.

The Equipment for the Journey

 

I have already explained between all my (in)finite posts about the Mise en Scéne that we have used to create the opening sequence and the budget that we had. But just to put it bluntly and re-elaborate to myself the effort placed into the film, I want to state what has been used. I have placed this all below. Play 'Guess' to guess what they were used for.

Film Preparation - Gothika, The Shining and Jennifer's Body

Throughout my journey there have been many things that have been able to inspire me to create my masterpiece. In this case, I had an excuse to continuously watch films, and analyse what made them a success - of which I would imitate.

One of these films was Jennifer's Body, what inspired me from the film was where her friend, Needy, is placed in a mental institution. Seen in the video below at 0.27 seconds to 0.32 seconds. I thought that the cold and emptiness of the room was effective to show how alone she is and how bad her mental state is. Something that my team and I wanted to come across in our opening. Hopefully making the intended audience feel sorry for Ralivia and aware of her capabilities.

What influenced the interview for our opening scene was the interview Halle Berry had for her own 'mental illness' in Gothika (2003). Watch the clip below from 1 minute 30 seconds, from the beginning the close-ups on the character's faces and dimmed lighting making the atmosphere very tense, where the audience expects a big climax (or revelation) to end the interview. We wanted our opening to have the same affect on our audience, through making them feel anticipation rise therefore they would continue to watch the opening until the end.

I personally liked the use of lighting and camera work in general, not due to the effect of it but the diversity. Pierre Charpentier was the dolly grip in the film, and his 360 track behind both the characters in the shot. I thought that this was an interesting and bizarre method of showing the characters liaising. Especially so due to a fence being seen in the foreground, which disorientated my view on the shot during that time. If that was the desired effect it meant that it definitely achieved making the audience question the subject of their interview. Also, the lighting was very drowning and daunting. It hid the characters even more, making me feel as though the woman being interviewed held something sinister. As the only pure light (white light) that was seen was transmitted through the window it created a spotlight effect on the woman being interviewed. If I were to analyse it, it showed innocence and a hand to be laid out - which can foreshadow the remainder of the film (it being on her).

Gothika was also able to inspire me when I needed to write our screenplay. The hall scene - where Ralivia is escorted to her room - the distance of the walkway, the minimal lighting and the infinite amount of rooms for the patients made the mental institution seem like an inescapable and controlling environment. This is the exact feeling and look that my team-mates and I wanted to seek for.

Below is a photo from the Gothika clip that inspired our initial idea for the hallway. There is also a trailer for the videogame Asylum which fully shows 'the look' we were after.

Gothika: The Hallway

Asylum (Kickstarter Videogame)

The lighting, long distanced hallways and sinister tone to The Shining was able to influence me when it came to Paramnesia. The use of bright lighting with under shots of the protagonist - Johnny - was able encode to the audience that there is something hidden about the character. Where the audience would be able to decode Johnny as an evil character to be wary of. This is the effect that we wanted for our opening sequence, for our target audience to suspect that there's something wrong with the Doctor. Alike The Shinning, this was done by the use of lighting and close-ups, on the characters and various objects; such as the ring and clipboard.

 

Production Stages - Rough Video Cut Feedback

I would write about the feedback given verbally and physically (ie. their reactions/ emotions) by the audience who watched our 'rough cut' of Paramnesia, but the proof is better from their own eyes.

The video they gave feedback on:

Romina created a questionnaire on Scribd on the video above and placed the link in the video's description for their feedback - below.

The audience's feedback:

(Feedback on the Opening Sequence 2 by RominaNoli)
I believe the age for the majority of the audience were of school age. My reasons being that our group had to ask people that we knew to watch it - being adolescents - and we asked quite a lot of people during school - opportunity sampling (school-aged peers).

Therefore, I am able to reason that the video appeals to the young-adult/ teenage audience. Additionally, the methods in which we would try to get to them would be websites such as Youtube that younger generation tend to go onto more than the older generation.

Film Preparation - Wall Scene 2

When we did find a place to put our 'wall papers' what we had was too minimal, and what I made that showed details wasn't enough to do close ups on for the audience to see. Meaning that more needed to be made. Natalia created new newspapers using photoshop that had the photos of the family placed within them. They looked more realistic and it was able to hide the empty gaps that are seen then the newspapers are put up. The newspapers that Natalia photshopped are seen below:

I think that they were really well made, it was useful to use as it made the scene come to life better. Enabling the audience realise the meaning behind the flashbacks, placing the pieces together.

This is the wall scene put together in a location that Natalia was able to find within our school, Chelsea Academy, luckily the room was there and available for the amount of time we needed it for. As it was used as a hospital room, for students to rest if they felt ill, there was a bed and the wall were white. It was the perfect setting for how it was envisioned in the script, there was even a bathroom; where a toilet and sink were seen.

From this you may be able to tell that what you may see in the opening is just a small scale snippet of the location that we actually used. Towards the other side of the door is a toilet, that we didn't actually need for the scene also the room is so much brighter than how Romina edited it to be, more of a clinical white rather than an eerie brown. Which is both good and bad as we wanted the feeling to originally be 'cleansed' but then we had an epiphany to make the ending tenser and scarier, allowing Romina's editing to be highlighted.

As you are able to tell the eight sheets of 'wall paper' that I created wasn't enough to fill near the amount of space on the wall like I wished. Not only was there extra space towards the left of the wall scene (camera work is able to generate the illusion of the wall scene being bigger than it is), there was also space at the bottom of it. Which a camera isn't able to change.

Especially so when we needed close-ups of Ralivia/Romina where the bare wall is seen around her head. I think that it can be interpreted in two ways; one - Ralivia is at peace with herself when she is left with her dreams, two - she's not actually that crazy and deranged as she is shown to be at the beginning. Both allocating the audience to empathise with her as we intended.

Film Preparation - The Wall Scene

Nothing in a film is an 'original idea' anymore, meaning that the wall scene that I created was influenced through other films and types of media. I believe that a wall scene is able to show the erratic behaviours that we attempted to show at the beginning and present her as obsessive instead of erratic enabling her to discover the truth about her past. My reasoning being that it the Mise en Scene around the character/s on the scene is able to reveal more about them compared to their physical appearance (what they wear, walk, talk ect..).

Watch the video below. Intensely.

As you may have been able to tell, it was the trailer of Sinister (2012). Upon viewing this myself, I believed that tension within the trailer arose wholly due to the background and lighting. It was able to build the scene better. The frame came to life. If there wasn't a wall covered in paper, post-its and photos the effect wouldn't be the same. Similarly with the lighting, if there was a bright light, it wouldn't look as though he had been looking at the footage for a long time. He'd seem as though he was in perfect health. Try re-watching the trailer again (from 40 seconds), and see whether it has the same effect if the wall behind him was bland and the lighting bright.


From a TV Drama that I watched religiously, Sherlock, I was also inspired by their wall scene. Usually one is seen at least every episode from the main character Sherlock. Yet one particular episode - scene 1, episode 3 - stood out to me due to the messiness of the newspapers which are neat from Sherlock's point of view. That made me believe that those in charge of set design wanted this character to look crazy and 'out of his mind' so to speak.

Hopefully, through this picture you are able to see the extensity of these newspapers, post-it notes and pieces of string. A mass amount of the wall scene makes me believe that this character is being irrational and allows his thoughts to take over him, other than the other way around. As wall like these are generally to show a person's thought trail to get them to an ultimate conclusion. I feel as though Ralivia isn't actually that delusional and erratic so a neater, and more confined wall scene would be better to express her thoughts - they've been though through. It also helps the realism as no one who lives in such a tightly controlled space would have enough information to create a wall scene the size seen in Sherlock. 

Therefore when it came to me making our wall scene I decided that each individual A3 piece of paper was to show a different aspect (or topic) to Ralivia's childhood. The sheets that I made you are able to see below, the individual details needed, photos and words. However, the major difficulty that I would have is the pins and sting that links them together. The reason being that I am not allowed to actually pin the A3 sheets on the wall that we were to use as it would leave holes. Yet, it still needs to seem as though they have been pinned up (the newspapers and photographs).

So what I did was either use glue; which I scrapped from the glue-stick and placed underneath the plastic coating from the pin. Or used bluetack. Either way I disregarded the actual pin and kept the plastic coating covering the pin. That way it still gave the illusion of the newspapers and photos being held up with pins. I actually believe that that was a better tactic as I was able to make more connections.

My idea for the wall scene was to extract the mind of Ralivia in such a way that the audience knows that she is wise and smart about what's happening around her - leading them to the conclusion that it is actually the drugs that make her erratic.  Therefore I believed that each sheet of paper needed to express different fragments of the bigger picture, each A3 sheet a different topic.

I created 8 sheets of A3 paper, that I have attached below.

This was just general 'wall paper' to extend on the wall scene. As you may be able to tell, the newspapers don't actually link with our scenario - they're all very varied. That way I needed to cover the words from the titles with post-it notes, with the intentions of distracting them from the newspapers. If I had enough time and money, I would find more newspapers that linked to our film. Therefore Natalia photo-shopped some newspapers in order to both build on the wall scene and help with our newspapers' topic.

I tried to focus the 'wall paper' above on Ralivia's mother. The majority of the photos (that goes for all the pieces of 'wall paper' has just 'Ralivia' (actually being Natalia) and her mother (Natalia's mother) in them. That way I was able to show that they were closer compared to Ralivia and her Father. Also, that he never really seemed part of the family, it was those two against him. It's just easier to show the family's dynamics though photos.

This 'wall paper' focuses on Ralivia's father, actual photos of Natalia's father are used so that the two men that would be seen are different. As, first of all we don't want the audience to make a quick and easy connection between the men with thin the first two minutes. Secondly, because our initial idea was that the father had surgery to alter his features. Hence why the doctor looks younger currently to how he is then. Also, if you are able to notice, the father is seen at the other end of the paper where Ralivia (as a child - the real-life Natalia) is at the opposite end. Hopefully, it is able to show the distance between them, and witnessing from the other 'wall papers' how secluded he is within the family.

Another general sheet of 'wall paper'. I thought that it would be a good idea to circle around some extracts of text in order to show that some parts of the text were more important. Also, the fact that I had seen it somewhere else may have lead me to do that. Yet, it is effective as it allows the audience to know the detail Ralivia looks at concerning her past. Also, I thought that the pins on the parents faces would be both funny and symbolic, an act of defiance. Able to present that the cause of this may have been from her parents.

All the rest are other general 'wall papers' to build up the wall and scene. Making it look fuller.

If evidence is needed to see me do my wonderful work in action, I have planted some photos here as proof. Bear in mind that the 'wall papers' didn't happen all of a sudden in one evening - they took time and most probably took longer for me to make compared to typing all these blogs.

Pictures of me sticking, cutting and attaching the wall scene.

Making the Wall Scene "Wallpaper" is not as easy a job as it may seem. I have to make the wallpaper in stages to create them in the look in which I felt suitable. Below is the 'Father' wallpaper and the progression of it. Hopefully you are able to see how much of a tedious and tiring job it is.

Stage 1

 Stage 2

(Sorry about them being vertical, however I am unable to rotate them horizontally)