Problems that arised

Throughout the whole making of my opening film many problems were raised, some I was able to overcome, yet as I run out of time particular aspects weren't able to be adapted in time.
Fern and I had encountered many mistakes through out the process, which at times made it very difficult to adapt to these situations. Nevertheless, working as a team made us fulfil things much easier.
A problem that always occurred was the use of tutorials and technology that we was using. It appeared that Fern and I were very unlucky when it come to saving and then finding our work, for some odd reason each lesson it was always a long process to actually get working as we were always unable to open our work even though it was there. This became extremely annoying, as we didn't have the time to waste, yet there was nothing we could do about it. Fern and I were unable to control these problems that were being raised with the technology, therefore we had to be patient and try and overcome them using different sources of technology (other peoples Macs) eventually we had used different methods of adapting to this annoying situation that we were constantly in. Even though this appeared to be a problem, it had also taught me to be patient and made me aware that not everything is always expected to go as plan, therefore I had to think of different ways to defeat these difficulties. This wasn't a problem in the making of my preliminary task.
A problem that was raised was trying to keep the ticking clock consistent throughout the whole duration, at the ending we had used sound effects which suggests someone is ringing one of the girls yet the stalker walks over to the mobile and disconnects the call, however as he was walking the ticking of the clock had stopped and also the phone ringing. This was extremely irritating, as it defeated the object of time running out and disconnecting the call. After many alterations of trimming specific sound affects, Fern and I had luckily mastered this problem.
Finalising our videos was always a long process, and each time we added more effects or improved it in a particular way it would take even longer (20-30 minutes). As this process was very long it was extremely irritating once it had finalised that we would be addressed with another error. As we approached the deadline, we had finalised our opening and had then noticed another error again. The ticking of the clock was also in the background of the institution, this was very annoying as when I had searched on other film openings I had noticed this isn't something that a film would usually have, therefore the conventions of using an institution aren't entirely being followed. Unfortunately Fern and I had run out of time to go back and alter this,  I feel that if we had improved this it would make our film look more professional.
I feel there are slight improvements that Fern and I could make to ensure that our film opening looks as professional as possible, nevertheless due to time running out we are unable to do this. From the feedback that I have gained from both peers in my media class and teachers I have realised of the improvements that could be made. An improvement that was suggested was to paste the ticking of the clock to build up the tension in a slower movement, I feel this improvement would appeal more to my target audience as it would leave them more excited for the big reveal. I am hoping that I will have time to go back and adapt this as I feel it would definitely emphasise time running out. This would add to the conventions of a thriller genre.
Another problem that arised was the dates in the note pad being incorrect, as we had done it by each month whereas we should had done it for each individual date of each month. This was extremely infuriating, as it would require re-doing the whole list of dates, re-shooting the footage and then re-applying it to the film, although this is an easy process and would be easy to overcome Fern and I had run out of time to complete this task therefore had to leave it this way. Although this is a minor mistake, it is observed as a major mistake. I feel if we had adapted this the audience would be able to feel more enticed by the further events as it would show that this has been a regular occurance to then build up to be "depleted"

 

Changes

Through out the making of our opening Fern and I had constantly made changes, some were very minor yet some were major. The changes we made had always improved our opening, it also developed our skills of using the technologies and tutorials, especially compared to when we produced our Preliminary task. Through the few videos that I have uploaded on here, you will be able to see clearly some of the adaptions that I have made. I felt it was easy to complete the opening and then review back the entire opening to notice what needed to improve. I had taken advise from both teachers and peers in my media class, the advise that I received encouraged me to make changes, as it was more important for the audience to be lured by the opening than Fern and I. Reviewing back my preliminary task had also encouraged me to make changes as it was clear of the failures that I had made in that, therefore I didn't want to make the same lapses in my two minute opening.
Once Fern and I had uploaded all of our footage onto Imovie we had realised that the contrasts of colours varied as we had filmed at different times in the day. This had became a major problem as the contrasts didn't match, leaving the footage to be unrelevant to one another.



The image above is how the clock scenes were before we had altered the contrast, although it looks clear and bright this wasn't the style we were hoping for. It looked very out of constrast in comparison to the rest of our footage and as for this reason we knew that this was something that had to be changed. Once I had selected a colour which I felt was appropriate for the content and thriller genre, I had then applied it to every piece of footage so that all of the scenes matched, as well as making the scenes match it evidentely created a dull tone which can relate to the negativitiy that is occuring in the scenes.
Fern and I had continueously trimmed pieces of footage, we had done this as we felt some parts were unnesscary and would leave the audience to be bored, and that was something that we were obviously trying to avoid. We had also trimmed some parts as it was signifcant that we hadn't gone over the two minute duration, therefore some parts had to be trimmed otherwise we wouldn't of achieved on one of the main purposes.
The first time we had finalised our opening we hadn't included many non diagetic sound effects. Fortunately Fern and I were aware that this was a huge weakness as it made our opening look slightly unrealistic and boring. For this reason we had searched on garage band all the differnet sound effects that were provided, and chose ones that we felt would be appropriate for the footage that we have. We manly looked at sound effects that would be used in the thriller genre, this was so it would add to the pressure that was being built up. The non diagetic sounds that we added, had evidentely improved our film, I personally think it makes the audience feel more involved, whereas before all we had was the ticking clock. We had done this as we wanted to exagerate the danger that was gradually buiding up and will soon will develop into a tradgedy occurance. I feel that adding more non diagetic sound affects made the audience specifically focus. It was as if the little noises sounded much louder due to the tension that was being built up. Including more non diagetic sounds were a major improvement to not only this opening but also from when I had created my premilianry task, as I hadn't incorporated any in that. I feel that including more non diagetic sounds helped the audience get a precise conclusion of what genre we achieved.