The Final Product

AS Level Media Studies Film Opening: The Red HerringAlso accessible via Dailymot...

Creative Critical Reflection: Part IV

 How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, online - in this project?With the proliferation of technology in recent years, the software needed to create a low-budget film has become quite accessible. Accordingly, below is a presentation of the various software and hardware that I used when creating my film opening. I have also included a short video with examples of how I used this...

Creative Critical Reflection: Part III

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?Embedded below is a Prezi presentation detailing how my production skills have improved throughout the process of making my film openin...

Creative Critical Reflection: Part II

How does your product engage with the audience and how would it be distributed as a real media text?Below is a Prezi on the research that I conducted in regard to how my product is likely to be received by audiences and how I would distribute my product...

Creative Critical Reflection: Part I

How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?  Included in the Prezi Presentation below is a depiction of the codes and conventions that I followed and challenged within my opening as well as how it represents an under-represented social group in a unique manner...

Creating a Production Logo

 For the start of my film, I wanted to include a fake production company logo to add to its authenticity. I decided on using the name Araliya Productions because the Araliya is a well-known flower in Sri Lanka which would help to indicate the setting of where this film is located, as well as because...

Editing the Credits

 The CreditsI used an Adobe Premiere Pro template for the credits but altered it slightly so that instead of flashing with a blue light which I felt looked odd, it remained all white. I liked this particular template because while it is completely visible and animated it does not detract too much...

Editing the Title

 After doing some research online and watching a few productions by various media studies students I decided to use Masking to display the title in the opening. I felt that this was an interesting and creative way of displaying the title, starting off and ending with a fade-to-black transition...

Designing the Title

 BrainstormingAfter a long time of deliberating over what to name the film I had to choose between two options:The Crimson ClueThe Red HerringAlthough I liked the alliteration in the first option, it felt a bit generic and obvious, considering the nature of the first scene. Therefore, I decided...

Adding the Soundtrack and Editing the Sound

Choosing the Music Now that the footage was ready I searched online for some music that I could use for the opening. I had already decided on using a song that I had heard from an episode of Castle which I felt would really fit the murder scene. Thus I added the song 'No Envy, No Fear' by...

Altering the Opening

 Before adding in the sound I saved the first version of my opening and sent it to a few people in order to receive some feedback and make any necessary alterations before progressing further.A comment that I received were that the transition between the making of the tea and her sitting down at the desk was a bit too long so that was chang...

Editing the Opening

 After uploading all the footage to my laptop I started a new sequence on Adobe Premiere Pro. I then started editing the scenes together according to the script and storyboard.For the most part, the editing was quite simple. I especially made use of the razor tool and the Adobe Premiere Pro built-in...

Final Shoot: Day 2

 On the second day of shooting, I shot all the indoor and outdoor scenes of the detective. The takes didn't take too long and were quite simple to film. We set the tripod up in the different locations of the house, starting with the kitchen, followed by the dining table and finally the dresser...

Final Shoot: Day 1

 Finally, it was time to conduct the final shoot. I invited both of my actors to my house to stay overnight for the sake of convenience since there were both nighttime and daytime shots to film.For the whole filming process, I used my usual Canon EOS 750D camera and a tripod that I borrowed from...

Costumes

 Character: Kiara De SaramI created a mood board on Canva to get a clear idea of the type of clothing that female plain clothes detectives typically wear in film:Using this as a reference point, I used clothing that I had at home to create a costume for my main character. I borrow a blazer and...

How I Collected My Props

 Alternative Access to VideoAdditional PropsThe Fake BloodWhen dressing the set and filming the murder scene I made fake blood using water, red food colouring and flour. I mixed these ingredients together until I reached a satisfactory consistency which looked like blood and could be used to write  with on the floor.A Fake News SiteAs an additional detail, for the take where Detective De...

Casting

 The CastDETECTIVE KIARA DE SARAM played by - ➢ Name - Dayadi Seneviratne➢ Age - 20➢ Appearance:THE MURDER VICTIM played by - ➢ Name - Indeevari De Silva➢ Age - 20➢ Appearance:For the 2 film characters acting in the sequence, I approached two good friends of mine that...

Recce Report

 Prior to filming the final shoot I also filled in a recce report, to anticipate any issues that might crop up during final shoots and in order to further scout the location.(Report Templa...

Final Storyboard

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Final Script

 Taking the feedback from my mock shoot in to consideration, I made a few alterations to improve on it for the final shoot and produ...

Mock Shoot Feedback

 Based on the feedback received from my teacher I would have to change a few things for my final film opening sequence:The framing of the shots - particularly the scene with the detective getting dressed should have been shot as an over-the-shoulder/POV shot There should have been a cutaway...

Mock Shoot

 Behind the Scenes Imag...

First Story Board

 Above is my first attempt at creating a storyboard for my opening sequence. I used a template from this site - https://boords.com/storyboard-template#pdf-storyboard-templates and used Adobe Photoshop software to draw the scenes. My lack of drawing skills was a bit of an obstacle however the...

Camera Script Attempt

 Below is a rough camera script for my latest script.Each of these shots were decided upon for specific reasons, for example, it was an intentional choice to shoot the murder victim's scene from a high angle in order to show the victim's powerlessness in that situation. The detective was to be...

Second Script Attempt

After researching the genres of Crime Mystery,  Drama and Police Procedurals I felt better equipped to create my own film opening, taking into account the codes and conventions typically associate with those types of media.Below is my second overall attempt at creating a script.In this script,...

Creating a Character Profile

 Based off my previous research into female detectives portrayed in films and tv shows, I created my own character profile for my film's main character.(made using - storyplann...

Character Research

 For my main character, I wanted to use a female police detective who would solve a murder mystery. This is because I wanted to portray a female protagonist in a strong and unconventional position, particularly for a film set in South Asia, where female police officers are quite rare. I did...

Researching Codes and Conventions of a Murder Mystery

 Having analyzed the opening of a Crime film, I did a little more research into the codes and conventions that typically appear in Murder Mystery films: ...

Getting Inspiration

Following my teacher's feedback on my first script concept for my opening sequence, I decided to take a different approach and was inspired to write an entirely new script.I decided to explore the genre of crime for my film's opening sequence. This could be because I've always enjoyed crime and mystery...