Final Decision on Name

Having spent long and hard thinking about possible names for our film, me and Xiangyu came to the conclusion that the name should do the following things:

- Relate to the subject and the moral meaning behind the film.
- Be understandable for the audience and to help give a further insight into the plot
- Follow the themes of the genre (horror/thriller) that we want to be remain prominent within the film.

Here is a screen-shot of one of the websites we used to look up names of popular horror films:

We had already previously come to the conclusion that having the name of the film begin with 'the' would be a good idea as it is something that from looking at the image, is common within the names of horror films (The Thing and The Shining for example). However now that we have recently discussed the name again, we have decided that maybe this may not suit our film as our film is not intended to be about blood gore (like films such as The Shining) and is meant to be thought provoking. Therefore, we thought it best to have a name which was a moral or statement in regarding the characters of the film. This is how we came up with the name 'Don't look into the light', as in the plot of the story, one of the characters (Greg) follows the light which is what ultimately leads to danger.

In this way, through the title, it is suggested that the characters had a choice, which goes against the traditional beliefs of horror films that characters don't have a choice. Therefore, we think that this title is convenient as it implies the idea that it is only Greg's greed to find out more that makes him see what he sees.

Editing - Final Corrections

Our process of editing is almost complete, with the only stage left being to correct any issues on some of the shots. The long shot used outside, when me and Greg are walking towards the camera, previously had very poor visibility. This was also the case with a couple of the downstairs shots - the match on action shot where Greg is about to walk upstairs and the medium shot of the door when both me and Greg enter the house. Although these shots were previously too dark to put in our film, we adjusted them using the colour correction tool on Final Cut Pro. Although we wanted to improve the colour on the shots, we were careful we were careful when doing so as were aware that overuse of the whites and blacks could lead to some of the shots being grainy and therefore inconsistent in comparison to the rest of the film

Editing - Fourth Stage - Titles

Now that me and Xiangyu are pleased with how the music fitted in with our film, we are now moving to do the process of including the titles. Having already done some research on Dafont as to the possible fonts that we could use for the titles, we already had a good idea in mind as to what font we would use - Another typewriter (see previous post on font types).

Therefore, our main decision regarding the titles was the timing of them and the positioning of them within the opening. In terms of positioning, we experimented on Final Cut Pro with the different possible positions, and came to the conclusion that overall, the position of lower left was the most effective. We chose this position as, in the majority of shots that we filmed, the position of lower did not hinder the view of any of the characters or props and so therefore was best suited to the audience. We also felt the position of lower left was the most proffesional as we had noticed it used commonly when looking at films such at films such The Life of David Gale and so kept with the conventions of the genre in this way.

An example of a title in our film

In terms of the timing of the titles, we felt that it was best to keep a consistent time between the titles as the film only contained three individuals. Therefore we felt that it would not be needed to have certain titles on the screen for longer as each contribution was of a similar amount. We chose not to have any titles in the first opening shot to allow the audience to take in the shot and did not have any titles very close to the end. We chose this timing so that the titles would help the feeling of suspense and tension, along with the music, that we wanted to be prominent in the film

Editing - Thrid Stage - Music

We are at the stage where nearly all the sequences for the film have been completed in terms of the editing process, and now we need to add the music to the film. Whilst editing, I learnt that it was possible separate the sound and the shots from each other using the tools on Final Cut Pro. Me and Xiangyu found this useful as this meant that, if need be, we would be able to cut parts of the music in order to fit the intended feeling of a sequence whilst not having to actually effect the shot itself.

The toolbar on Final Cut Pro, showing a range of the different icons available.

A screen-shot of our music on Final Cut Pro, showing how we changed the volume of the music at different times to create suspense.

For example, there is a particular sequence in the film where Greg is walking up the stairs that we wanted tense music for to give a sense of tension to the audience. However, when we uploaded the music from Xiangyu's Ipod, we noticed the sound originally did not give off this feel when the combined the music with the film. As a result of cutting, we improved the feel of the film, as we were able to give off that feeling of suspense that the horror and thriller genres are stereotypically known for.

Editing - Second Stage

Now that me, Xiangyu and Greg have together filmed some more shots in our second filming session, we have begun to upload them and add them on Final Cut Pro in their respective places. We have found that whilst adding some of the the new shots, this has helped us in making decisions about editing some of the first shots. I think this is down to the fact that with the new shots, we are starting to get more of a feel of the film opening coming together as a package, even though we know we still have some way to go yet.

A time-line of our film.

We have watched the film through multiple times at various stages to try and ensure that there are no inconsistencies with the fluency and mise-en-scene of the film. So far we are happy with how the two lots of shots have fitted together as it is extremely difficult to tell that there have been two separate filming sessions taking place, which is of course what we intended for the film and audience.

We have also held some shots back from both of the sessions as we are indecisive as to whether or not we will need them in the future and to not want to scrap them for this reason. We feel that after the stage of music and titles our decision may be become more clear.

Editing - First stage

Me and Xiangyu so far have been organizing the shots from our first editing session into order. Even though we know we still have to film another session, we felt that it would be best to get the shots into order so that we had a basis of an opening and so we only had to fill in the gaps. We are getting to grips with the software, and, at the moment, are at the stage of deleting/cutting any unnecessary parts of shots or shots which did not go to plan. We have so far found that most of the shots we have uploaded from the first session work, although there are still definitely bits to add to enhance the quality of the opening and ensure that it fits with 2 minute length set by the criteria. We plan to film another session for this reason.

Second Filming Session

Following the noticeable improvements that were possible from looking at our first filming session, me, Xiangyu and Greg decided to film again at Xiangyu's house. We made sure that the actors wore the same clothes in order to keep the professional look of the film that we intended for our audience. We also had to make sure that factors such as positioning of the actors and the lighting were taken into consideration so that the new shots that we filmed fit as seamlessly as possible into the film opening.

We filmed many of the downstairs shots again and re-did some of the shots in the bathroom as we decided that this would benefit the feel of the opening. We feel that with the new shots we have filmed, the film is enhanced in it's quality due to the increase in the variety of shots used. We have not decided as of yet whether we need to film another session as we are happy with how the opening looks so far when we have looked at it in the editing process, using Final Cut Pro.