Final Cut

Audience Feedback

After rendering my first draft, I promptly asked a portion of those that had previously participated in my audience research to offer feedback on the opening sequence.
After watching the sequence I then asked them the following questions:

1. Would you continue watching this film having only seen the opening sequence?
2. What did you like about the opening sequence?
3. What could be changed to improve the opening sequence?

What I wanted to achieve by asking the these questions was to find out whether the opening sequence was successful in enticing the audience; what aspects of the sequence appealed to the audience; and how the sequence could be redrafted to allow the audience to further enjoy it.

Results
From the those that participated in feedback the majority had stated that they would continue to watch the film judging purely from the opening sequence.

Upon being asked what each of the participants enjoyed in the opening sequence it was stated that they enjoyed the suspenseful atmosphere that the music and cutting implemented which had left them intrigued to find out more. Some participants also commented on the varied use of camera angles in the sequence, saying that it made it more interesting.

There were three defined areas that required improvement regarding the participants, these were:

• To lengthen the shot of the social media profile describing the character as it cut away before they had chance to finish reading it.
• To use a different font for the sequence.
• To refine the company logos at the beginning as it the grainy image made it seem unprofessional.

In the redrafting process I will elongate the shot of the social media platform which describes the character which will allow more of the audience to gather the information about the character which is presented in the sequence.

While the concept of changing the font has been brought up there is a possibility that it will not be changed during the redrafting process, this is because the specific critique is purely a result of differing taste and changing this will not necessarily improve the viewers enjoyment. However, I may experiment with the use of different fonts.

The logos at the beginning of the sequence will be refined so they appear less grainy during the redrafting process, this should eliminate the chances of the sequence appearing overly unprofessional.

First Draft

Evidence of Editing: Colouring

This shot consists of the glass that can be heard breaking at the beginning of the sequence and it makes contact with the ground and smashes.
To show how the shot has been edited I have compared the raw footage with the edited footage. In editing the shot I had lowered the play speed. I also increased the contrast of the footage to make the background appear to be a solid colour and eliminate shadows cast on it.

Evidence of Filming

To the left is a picture of the set up which I used to capture the specific shot in which there is a birds-eye-view over the chair. Simultaneously in this shot there are several mundane objects place on the chair beside the bed. The several objects are placed with precision in their arranged assortment which is to show the intricate and almost finicky nature of the character. 

To achieve a steady shot I used a tripod which was positioned in front of the seat. The camera was then tilted almost all the way down to have the overlooking angle required for the shot. 

Lighting, as in most parts of the filming for this sequence, was difficult to control as sufficient light is required for the shot to create a consistent colouring through the sequence. However, this resulted in a shadow being cast by the tripod. As a result the camera needed to be meticulously positioned so the shadow remained out of frame while the shot remained as intended.