Evaluation of our post production

Within this post i am going to dicuss the editing process and other various factors which i came across throughout the journey of creating and editing 'Resurgence'. 

Firstly in contrast to my peliminary task i have learnt and developed various skills which have helped my achieve a better standard and quality of my opening sequence of 'Resurgence'. Obvious skills and rules such as the 180 degree rule i have learnt and now understand in full detail. In my peliminary task i wasnt aware of the factors affecting this and also the consequences. Now by understanding what to do, i am confident when filming what to be aware of and now i wont make as many mistakes when filming. 

Here is a diagram of the 180 degree rule.

Another factor which i have progressed in since the peliminary task is using Final Cut pro. This programme is a nonlinear editing system that allows users to edit video. Created by Apple Computer, Final Cut Pro allows you to edit everything from digital video, IMX and uncompressed SD to HDV, XDCAM HD, DVCPRO HD and uncompressed HD.

When using Finally Cut pro in my preliminary task I came across many difficulties, firstly it was adapting to the use of the software, it was all very new to me and it was hard to remember particular buttons and there uses. After repeatedly using them, and again this time in my thriller ‘Resurgence’ I now feel confident that I have a lot more knowledge in this field. One particular problem I had whilst editing was matching the sound to the shot, but with precision and dragging the shots on top of the sound, I was able to overlap them and match the actors mouth to the sound recorded. Another problem I had was learning what each specific tool meant, there are rather a lot and was difficult to memorize, and I kept using the wrong tool for the wrong purpose in the preliminary task but now I was able to use the right tool for the right purpose. When using final cut pro for our thriller ‘Resurgence’ we had to think about what kind of sequence it was, was it a fast or slow action sequence and what would appeal to the audience. Due to it being about a boy being electrocuted we thought the most appropriate pace for the beginning would be slow, as it would allow the events to lead up and create suspense and tension until the boy was actually electrocuted. The pace would go faster when the victim is just about to be electrocuted, then all of a sudden break off, this was portrayed by using a black screen for a few seconds through final cut pro to show the action of the electrocution will be taking place and also a sense of time. I liked using the blackout as it gives off a sense of mystery and makes the audience wonder and think what would have happened.

Another aspect I have learnt is how to import sounds from Soundtrack pro, this is all linked in with the editing process. Soundtrack enables you to choose a wide variety of sound effects, songs and a choice of music, which you can choose, appropriately to your film. For the preliminary task we didn’t use these due to only using the dialogue we had recorded. For my preliminary task all the sound was diegetic, due to the audience being able to hear these sounds. And for my thriller ‘Resurgence’ we have used a variety of sound clips. Firstly the sound of a radio tuning, as there is a radio broadcast set in the 1930’s playing at the beginning so this sound effect with firstly inform the audience what time period it is and what it is. In ‘Resurgence’ we used non-diegetic sound, as the actors can’t hear these noises and these sounds are used to enhance the ambiance and overall atmosphere of our opening sequence.

The sound effects also help create mood and atmosphere. Another sound effect we are using is the sound of electricity for our credits, due to this thriller being based on electrocution we believe it is appropriate to use this sound effect of electricity as it fits in well with the theme and adds extra detail to the credits.

Being able to use Soundtrack pro allows us to make our tasks more interesting, unique and more appealing to a wider audience. It took time to learn and understand what each function meant but after a while I feel happy with the new skills I have learnt and the way I have put them into context.

Another aspect we used which added to the final touches of our opening sequence was titles and graphics. In our preliminary task we didn’t use titles and graphics as it was a very basic task, we also know how to use titles and graphics back then. Now, having learnt how to use titles and graphics and there purposes we were able to incorperated them into our opening sequence of our thriller. Firstly being using these titles a teacher Matt showed us a DVD of titles being used just so we could remember how to use them and it really helped seeing a variety of titles and graphics as it helped us to think about the style of visuals we wanted. After this we wrote a list of the appropriate titles we though was necessary and that we wanted. We could of named every person involved or we could name purely the distributor, producer and director. We decided to name the distributor, producer, director and the main actors. We started our credits with the Distributor, the Distributor we used was ‘Two door cinemas’, as this is a very small distribution company and we will be able to budget the film and target the right niche market. Due to our thriller being targeted at groups of people interested in history, types of death penalty’s and mysterious stories we chose to target a small niche market, as there is only going to be a particular amount of people who will have an interest in this film.

Our production we decided to use is ‘An electric production’, we thought of this name as it refers back to the film being about electrocution and how these productions based on electricity, an electric chair, and an electrocution. We decided the credits would have a ‘typewriting’ font and would fade in and out on the left hand side of a blank black screen. The idea of using a blank black screen is used to heighten tension as they audience can only hear the sound of electricity and not see anything apart from the credits. The rest of the credits of the actors will also appear on black screens but slowly fade into the opening sequence before the action takes place. The fact we are going to end the credits leading into the openings sequence is to reduce tension.

We have decided to use the same font styles throughout the sequence as if we used a variety of cartoony graphics our opening sequence will begin to look amateur.

An example where  a title card a picture of an electric chair as the background.

Storyboarding- Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity.

The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at the Walt Disney Studio during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation studios.



A film storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help film directors, cinematographers and television commercial advertising clients visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement. Normally there is a caption of information breifly stating what the shot includes, or what sort of shot will be needed. For example, wide shot etc.

A storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera lens. And in the case of interactive media, it is the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or information. In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film or interactive media project can be efficiently described either in picture, or in additional text.

Here is an example of a storyboard for the company Yell-:

Some live-action film directors, such as Joel and Ethan Coen, use storyboard extensively before taking a pitch to their funders, stating that it helps them to get the support they require, since they can show exactly where the money will be used. Alfred Hitchcock's films were strongly believed to have been extensively storyboarded to the finest detail by the majority of commentators over the years, although later research indicates that this was exaggerated for publicity purposes. Akira Kurosawa was known, particularly in his later years, for painstaking detail in his storyboarding, to the degree that the storyboard paintings for Ran (for which he storyboarded every shot) are regarded as fine works of art in themselves. Other directors storyboard only certain scenes, or none at all. Animation directors are usually required to storyboard extensively, sometimes in place of writing a script.

more storyboards are shown-:

This storyboard A storyboard for a Taco Bell television campaign.

The storyboard above is one about cricket, this is visually colourful with captions under each clip.

Audience and Institutions

The Audience we have targeted for this sequence of ‘Resurgence’ is people which are interested in the electric chair death which was invented in 1890. Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the person being killed is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body. This execution method has been used only in the United States and, for a period of several decades, in the Philippines (its first use there in 1924 under American occupation, last in 1976). The electric chair has become a symbol of the death penalty; however, its use is in decline. Nowadays the only use of death penalty which is still used in a few states is the lethal injections and gas chamber. In England we can still use execution. People which are interested in this due to it being history will be attracted to watching our sequence, although we have a twist in the second half of the sequence when our main character

(Randell) had the sack over his head and ends up working behind a bar in a pub a numerous amount of years later.

I would like Resurgence to be independently made by me and then distributed by a film company such as Lionsgate and/or Vertigo.

Lionsgate is small Canadian-American Entertainment Company targeting niche markets; they have 497 employees and have distributed various films. Some of the films are: ‘The Last Exorcism, Saw 3D, Rabbit hole’ and many more.  The audience for saw 3d, is similar to my film Resurgence so this therefore could be very useful and more appropriate to use.

Vertigo is a British film production and film distribution company. The company was formed for the express purpose of distributing and producing two films, ‘The Football Factory and its All Gone Pete Tong’. Its current stated goal is to produce four films and distribute four films per year. Vertigo target smaller audiences than distributors such as Warner Bros. also vertigo have their own DVD release, and because we are looking to release our film on DVD, Vertigo would be suitable to use in order to distribute a DVD.
One of Vertigos films 'Monsters' was premiered through Xbox 360 and Net flicks/ Net flicks is an internet streaming film service which enables people to  rent films directly to ur house, similar to lovefilms.com. Due to Resurgence targeting small niche audiences, it may be more effective to use Vertigo as they have reaches small niche markets in the past too.

The reasons why I would like to use a small distributor is due to the genre Resurgence, it may not appeal to mass markets, so by using small company’s this will ensure it will find a spot in the market who will have an interest to.

In order to advertise and sell my film to audiences, Id like to use similar strategies, firstly by creating a website, so people can see the making of the film, our ideas and the director and production notes. It was a very long process and journey till we finalized our idea and started filming. I would give Resurgence a certificate of a 15, as Resurgence is a thriller/horror and may not be appropriate to younger generation. Also there will be scenes of an electrocution taking place which will involve blood and a victim being tortured. These events aren’t pleasant so a certificate of 15 will advertise that there a gruesome and distasteful.