Audience Response

I showed a rough cut of my film to a group of parents and others last night. They completed feedback sheets and there have been a variety of interesting responses.

• 'Nice music and use of camera angles etc. Not sure about it being in black and white.'
• 'Intro didn't fit title.'
• 'Not an obvious link, black and white intro, and title = not hooked, but good filming.'
• 'Good use of music to create atmosphere. Not sure if phone call to door knock creates sufficient suspense and the impact that you are after. Perhaps lengthen the phone call and door shots.'
• 'Didn't understand what the topic was.'
• 'Good planning to think of the places for shots and the use of lighting was really well done.'
• 'Very good intro.'
• 'Nice shot of Forum. Too long.'
• 'Very atmospheric.'
• 'Really liked this one, very well shot, beautifully filmed.'
• 'Good shots but did not draw me into the story.'
• 'Feeling of sadness. Black and white effective. Artistic use of shots. Not sure what the film was going to be about.'
• 'Like use of lighting for street lamps in city. Good background sound. Very good opening shot, love flames ideas. Sharp and grabbed attention.'
• 'Lots of mystery.'
• 'Good shots of Norwich.'
• 'Too many bright backings. Only problem however.'

It seems the music has come off well and that people liked the images. Given that people of that age were never really my target audience, I should probably take their comments with a pinch of salt.

Most people seem to like the music and images and appreciated the mood I was trying to create, but for many people, this wasn't particularly enjoyable or interesting for them. People seemed to be split on the choice of a black and white. I would guess that many thought it fitted the mood well, which was the effect i was going for, but I could imagine that for some it was too unconventional.

Some people didn't really understand what the film was about. For some, my choice of cutting, and cutting again, and giving as little away as possible may have left the overall effect too subtle. I would argue that the subtlety suits to style well. People in my audience research were generally split as to whether they preferred action or a gentle start.

Ellipsis

During editing, I've been reading up on ellipsis. The narrative device dictates that the audience doesn't need to see the entirety of an action to understand what has happened. For example, man doesn't need to be seen standing up from a chair, walking across a room, opening a door and walking out of it for us to understand that he has left the room.

Hopefully I can make good use of this in my edit.

Here's the article I've been reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis_(narrative_device)

Making of the sound effects

The sound of a lighter clicking is very key within the opening. In a sense, it is the first contact the audience has with the character. I therefore thought that it might be a good idea to record the sound effect properly. Here's how I did it along with a couple of screen shots...

1) I recorded the sound using a simple microphone and Audacity which is a freely available, easy to use recording and editing package.

2) Once I'd recorded a whole mess of samples, I picked out the best ones; one of the lighter clicking, and one of the lighter actually igniting.

3) I then exported these samples into Ableton Live which is a

more professional audio program. Here, I used compressors and equalisation to remove

background noise from the budget microphone, and make the sounds sound altogether more

realistic and of better quality.

Who's who in the opening titles...

As i'm thinking about putting together my footage, just been reading up on opening titles. It seems there is certainly a convention to follow, especially in regards to who is included in the opening titles.

Here's the material:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_credits

Anton Corbijn

I've been reading up on the director and photographer Anton Corbijn. He's well known for his monochrome style and well chosen bleak shooting locations. He directed 'Control' and has photographed 'Joy Division' and 'U2' amongst many others.

Here are the articles I've been reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Corbijn

http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/3522/anton-corbijn-interview.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/10/01/anton-corbijn-talks-ian-curtis-biopic-control-using-killers-track-in-film

/

http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/control-anton-corbijn-interview

He seems to talk a lot about his B & W style as characteristic of the period and it's very much in keeping with the mood and the band itself at the time.

This is an example of his music photography. It's a picture of Elvis Costello and I think the whole effect (including lighting, the B & W and the composition) really encapsulate the 'rock 'n' roll' lifestyle.

I think I could recreate this in my film by using low-key lighting and then converting the footage into B & W when I'm editing.

This is a still taken from 'Control.' It clearly shows how effective a choice of location can be, and also how dramatic a setting can become in B & W. Iconic telephone box. Grimey brick wall. It's all there. All representations of the British North. The northern location and the terrace houses are all symbolic of the grey area of the north.

Here are a few shots I took whilst out on location, set to some musical ideas I've got for the soundtrack.

I really like the interesting architecture around the forum, especially the St. Peter Mancroft church. The lighting will work really well, and I think the Gothic style reflects the character well.

The lighting around the market and the lonely corridors will work really well and are characteristic of the Film Noir style.

The street lamps in Chapelfield Gardens is ideal, and the colourful underpass contrasts the character and will come out nicely in Black and White.