Lo5 To be able to edit cinematic quality footage/ Final upload of short film

We filmed our footage with cinematic quality equipment such as the DLSR Camera, and the iPhone 13, using these allowed us to get clear interesting shots that were shot at 24fps at HD quality. We purposely shot in areas that had loud lighting and good acoustics so that the video and audio quality was professional and up to standards of similar products; this proved to be difficult in some scenes. For example, when shooting the first scene of the film some of the shots we're too bright from the sun. This made our attempts at making a low angle shot very difficult as the sky behind the character was way too bright. However, we were able to fix this error in post using vfx as we desaturated the scene and added more blue colours into it, which made the quality of the shot seem more professional. Furthermore, during one scene the wind in the background was awful, which ruined some of the shot as you couldn't hear any of the character. We fixed this in post by editing the audio in the Adobe Audio app, and adding music and other sound effects into the product on premiere pro. This fixed the issue and made our product a lot more professional. We also used dubbing techniques to fix a problem with some audio at the beginning, while it isn't perfectly edited in, it makes the quality of the audio so much clearer and easier to understand. 

Since our short film was a drama/comedy/thriller, we decided to use editing techniques that played with the generic conventions of them products. To create tension and suspense, we added subtle audio cues and music clips like whispers and horror movie music. This made the scenes feel thrilling and suspenseful for the audience, and to build on this we used vfx effects like colour changing and a dip to a black screen. The colour change was used during a scene in which the character was looking at himself in a mirror. The scene is supposed to coyotes the characters downfall, and how he is becoming more and more unhinged after his accident. Hence the use of a red effect cutting in and out giving the once that he is not himself anymore. This is an example of binary opposition, a narrative theory theorised by Levi Strauss in 1958, as we used the colour red and dark uncomfortable music to imply that this character is the antagonist of the story. We also used this theory when choosing our lighting, as we decided to place the antagonist in dark shots that show how he is untrustworthy and evil, while the protagonist, the antagonists best friend, is shown in bright lights to help connote him as being a good person (The complete opposite of the antagonist) playing with the idea of good and evil. Similarly, we also used the same effect with a different shot. This time using the narrative theory of unconventional story structures (Todorov 1997) as flashbacks, which are incorporated into a shot of the antagonist sitting down looking uncomfortable. Implying to the audience that he is remembering all of his actions that he has done. This was used to lead into the next scene, while also letting the audience sympathise its the character slightly as he feels slightly guilty for the actions he had just committed. The sfx we chose in this scene also are used to let the audience sympathies with the character, the non diegetic sound of the soft piano is used to connote sadness and remorse which can be interpreted as the character feeling guilt for was he has done and that he may what to change. Furthermore, during scene one we decided to implement a shot of the antagonist slipping while climbing a fence, this was used as foreshadowing to explain to the audience how he was able to slip multiple times, eventually leading to why he fell over and hit himself on the head. This is an example of causes and effect (Pam Cook 1985) as one action that we showed in a single shot was used as a tool to lead into the main narrative of the short film.  Over all we used many narrative theories in our product to make the narrative more enjoyable for the audience.

Our product is a slight parody of some drama/ thriller ganagster movies, as many things we included were spoofs of things featured in different movies. One example would be the shot in the mirror which we have already talked about. For this we used Steve Niels 1980 Genre theory about repetition and different as we used different shot types, and editing techniques to conform to the genres individual conventions. The vfx choice to change the colour of the shot adds dramatic effect and is similar to other horror or thriller products. The fast cuts that switch from the normal shot to the edited shot and the eery sfx chosen build tension throughout the scene, similar to how horror movies build tension before a jump-scare. However we did not include a jump-scare and instead fade to black. This shows that we were able to subvert the conventions of the genres that we took inspiration from, and how we were able to differ from them products. Furthermore, Jason Mittell's Genre theory stating that genres are being exploited by media producers was also something that we though about when planning, filming, and editing our product. When in pre production, we looked at the over satirisation of many genres including Horror, Superheroes, and Drama's, and decided to parody the British gangsta genre. Making fun of films and series like 'Top Boy' and 'Blue story' and playing into the conventions of the genres present in each.  This is shown through the editing techniques, and vfx that we implemented into the film. For example: 

During the fourth scene the main character kills his best friend, and to play into the genre of British hood and gangsta movies, we made the character use a knife to stab his friend. Which is a convention featured constantly in these movies due to the real life events that take place so much throughout 'less wealthy' areas of England. To make the main character more threatening and seem like a 'roadmap' we combined fast edits and cuts with quick movement to simulate rage and make him seem more unhinged. This is also built on our choice of location, as we chose to use areas of Doncaster that seemed more grimy, poor, and dangerous. The House that we shot at throughout the whole film was chosen because it is located near Doncaster town (which is know as being a scruffy and dangerous area). These features plus Mise-En-Scene elements such as the props and costume chosen were used to parody the conventions of many British hood films that showed dangerous areas within England. 

When originally planning the film, we thought about casting Adil to be the main character. This would have been to show the racial representation theory by Manuel Alvarado. Playing with the stereotype that people of colour are most likely to be criminals and people similar to our main character. However, due to him suffering an accident, he wasn't able to act for our film. Even so we still used the stereotype of a roadmap within our film, as we show him wearing black coats and using props such as knifes and burner phones. Plus we used editing techniques such as colour changes and dip to blacks to present the character as dark and dangerous, building tension within the film and between the character and his friend. We also used David Newmans representation theory to show how the media represents the working class, especially the youth, as societies problem. We showed this through miss-en-scene elements such as the costume, and props that were used by Ellis's character while filming. During editing, we added non diegetic UK drill music to highlight this, as the music is regularly linked towards UK gangs and knife crime.