Evaluation

Leading up to the assignment, I learnt codes and conventions of the horror and thriller
genres, such as the difference between iconography and props. This helped when it came to
showing the genre without explicitly saying. I also learnt how to take apart and reassemble a
DLSR camera and tripod which then allowed me to understand how the camera works with
the different settings and ways to alter the exposure and contrast to allow scenes to look
lighter or darker. When I was in the group, we came up with an idea for a psychological
thriller since that subgenre that provokes enigma in the target audience so they want to
watch to see what happens.

In terms of sound, there is a mix of non-diegetic and diegetic sound so there is a sense of
realism involved. Whereas the footage is all shot using a Canon 4000D with a manual focus
which allowed Me, Sidney, Xsara and Nathan to change the focus when moving about to get
tracking and panning shots. This meant the protagonist as always visible to the audience.

In terms of research, it was looking at other short movies of the same genre to gain
inspiration for the sequence. This helped because it allowed the group to understand the
conventions of the subgenre and what to include to create enigma and leave the audience in
suspense of what is going to happen next.
I have learnt how certain prop placement of icons of the genre can show the audience what
genre or subgenre they are watching or how iconography can cement a certain film such as
the hockey mask is linked to Jason Vorhees and Friday 13th franchise. I also learnt how some
horror/thriller movies are left on an open narrative to leave the audiences wanting more
such as the insidious franchise which didn’t come to a close until the latest film and left the
audience with the enigma of what will happen next. So, we tried to do a similar thing by
leaving it with an open ending.
In turns of group contribution, I put forward ideas for location and we discussed different
ideas of what to do in terms of a storyline and how the audience will perceive each scene in
the sequence. We went on a location recee and allowed us to view different locations to film
since we couldn’t do our original idea due to health and safety so we settled on a church
location due to the lighting around the area wasn’t too bright. During filming, we all had a go
at using the camera using a shoulder stabilizer for some shot when it came to a moving shot.
When it came to producing the storyboard, we each drew our own ideas with camera shots
and compared then ideas to which best suited our ideas and expanded upon the ideas we
had set to fit the shot types we wanted since we need to include a close up and Dutch angle
since they’re conventional in horror and thrillers. Overall, it was a good spirit between the
group and there were no arguments between each other, and we all agreed when some
shots may need changing and things like that.
I used Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects to create a title and credit sequence as
well as the horror sequence. This was easy to do since both applications have user friendly
interfaces which meant it wasn’t tricky and easy to get certain workspaces depending on
what I was trying to edit.
The main strength I had was switching between the different editing software to create the
sequence. This allowed for an easier way to add clips and title sequences instead of
constantly swapping programs or loosing focus on which bit was being edited. The main area
I had to push myself was keeping up to date with my blog to make sure that I have included
everything that was needed and having everything done for the deadline.
I have completed the website to the best of my ability and I’m unsure what to add in terms
of detail to the website. I could potentially make it easier to navigate with more subheadings
and separating the practical work and theory work.
I could improve on how my work rate to get more done in the time I’m given. This is because
at times I can get distracted and lose focus so for future projects, I am going to try and stay
more focused and work on the project outside of lesson as well, so I don’t fall behind.

Mainly, I have improved my skills when it comes to video editing because I have only edited
a video once and I feel like I have come further along with these skills and learn how to mix
sounds with scenes, so it isn’t too loud or quiet as well as mixing both diegetic and non-
diegetic sounds in scenes to create different effects. I have also learnt how to create title
sequences and learning different areas on Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects.

I feel as if my work is alright for my first project and that there are some areas in which I can
improve mainly through camera work and editing because there are loads of cuts without
transitions in the video which makes the overall result look a bit clunky compared to if it was
to flow a bit smoother. This will improve as time continues and I learn how to edit more.

I feel happy from the feedback I received because I was nervous about how people would
react with it being my first-time editing something like this and editing a genre I have never
done before.

In the future, I would like to focus on improving and seeing a change in my editing and how
to flows. This thriller sequence seemed very choppy due to not having each shot following
smoothly into one another.