In our preliminary task, the camerawork was done quite well, considering we used multiple camera angles and the shots were still and not handheld, unlike some of the shots in our thriller. The camerawork was very similar but I believe that as we added handheld shots, it made our thriller look more realistic.

In the prelim we used only 4 static shots, whereas in our thriller we used handheld, panning shots, tracking shots, and some still shots as well.

In the prelim, because the camera shots were all static, and were shot in one small room, there was no atmosphere of action or any thriller related imagery, whereas in our thriller, we had multiple locations and camera shots, which enabled us to create the sense of action and a thriller-based film.

In our thriller we used some handheld shots and used the tripod for long shots during the basketball scenes in order to add complexion to the basketball player as he’s shooting and dribbling.

Multiple shots were used such as tracking shots with the tripod as the killer is walking around and school, and an over the shoulder tracking shot as he is walking into the PE office.

Mise en scene was definitely more effective in our thriller, as in our prelim, we did not have any props or costumes. In our thriller we used costumes and props that helped identify and personify the characters in order to make themselves fit in more and become more realistic.

The use of locations within our thriller was far better than that of our prelim, as in our preliminary task, we filmed the entire sequence in one room, therefore the atmosphere was bland and boring. In our thriller, the locations we used were throughout an entire school, which backed up the idea of an action packed high school massacre thriller.

The actors used in our thriller were more believable, as in the preliminary task we had simple actors with no real personalities. In our thriller we had actors who each had a specific and understandable personality, which helped address our film to the audience.

Mise en scene was definitely more advanced and developed in our thriller, as we allowed the mise en scene to relate to our viewers in order to make them keep thinking of what would happen next in our thriller.

The editing in our thriller is far superior to that of our prelim, as we did not include any effects or transitions in our prelim. In our thriller, we used transitions and both video and audio effects. We believe that the editing that was produced in our thriller was very well done.

We used three different programs in our editing (Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe After Effects) which allowed us to add different and unique effects to our thriller to make it look better.

Muzzle and

lighting effects

Fade transition

By using Adobe Premiere, we could allocate each individual clip that was recorded, and change the position of the footage in order to match the storyline of our thriller. We were also able to find footage that we did not need to include, therefore we cut them out. Adobe Premiere also helped us to find out exactly how long our thriller would be, as by positioning of the footage allowed us to know exactly how long the footage should last for each clip, therefore we could organise all of our clips together in an efficient way.

Sony Vegas is an editing software that allows for easy title sequencing, inserting video and audio effects and also positioning and altering clip lengths. We used Sony Vegas to add our title sequences, and change the font style and size. We also added fades to our clips using this software. The ending few seconds of the thriller were made with this program, which was the black screen with the title ‘Blacksburg 32’ on it. The audio effects such as the screaming and gunshot sounds, as well as the non-diegetic music that we used for the killing scenes and the basketball scenes were added and edited with Sony Vegas.

Whilst firstly editing our drafts, blood splats were attempted to be added into Vegas Pro, however we saw that as the camera was shaky, it would be too hard to track the blood splats to follow the location alongside the movement of the camera. We tried to take different types of blood effects in and out of our editing as we tried to make some work, but realised that it would not be able to work if some shootings have blood and others don’t, and as a result we removed the blood effects completely.

The ending of our thriller with the broken glass were green screens that were Chroma-keyed into the screen. We also inserted non-copyrighted audio of gunshots in order to accompany the text as it fades in.

Adobe After Effects is an editing software which allows for importing video effects in an efficient way. We used this program to add the muzzle flash effects and the lighting effects for the gunshots. The lighting effects had to be masked in order to fit into a realistic location when the gunshots were fired. The muzzle flashes also had to be placed exactly in front of the gun so that it would be applied once the gunshots were fired.

This program was helpful, as we could import clips that were already exported on the other editing software, therefore we could add the video effects and render the footage again to make the final video. In after effects it took a long time to get the lighting effects in as well as the muzzle flashes.

The use of sound was far more effective in our thriller than our prelim, as all the prelim sounds were diegetic. In our thriller we used non-diegetic binary oppositions of sounds in order to create a sense of mystery and intenseness. We also used sound effects of gunshots and screaming in order to make our thriller sound more realistic.

The use of sound in the preliminary task was all diegetic dialogue, which did not portray any sense of action.

In our thriller we used a variety of sounds, such as non-diegetic audio effects such as the gunshots and screaming, and also the use of contrapuntal sound with the non-diegetic classical music and the non-diegetic fast paced metal music. Our choice of contrapuntal non-diegetic music enabled our thriller to create suspense and tension as it allowed a fast-paced flow to our film.

The sound used in our thriller was far better than the sound used in our prelim, as the sound in the prelim had no purpose or meaning to the audience, whereas the sound in our thriller added purpose and meaning to the audience, and also added a sense of action and a thriller-based film.

The storyboard that we had for our preliminary task was already given to us, therefore we had to follow the directions of it without any interference with our own thoughts and ideas. In our thriller, we came up with our own ideas to use, and made our own storyboard. Although the storyboard we have was of our initial idea, we decided to change it slightly, such as featuring the duck mask and having the basketball player scenes cross cutting with the killings.

We had acquired different teams from our preliminary task to our thriller, and I believe that the teamwork was very good in our thriller groups, as we listened to each other and took in any considerations made by members of our group. I also believe that we all helped to ensure that we all played a role in our thriller, so that it would be the best thriller we could possibly make, and thus I believe that we did a great job addressing that.

Different team members also used different editing software to edit different parts of our thriller, in order to combine them as a whole. This helped us out a lot as different people specialise in different editing programs, therefore we could merge all of our individual skills in order to produce a great thriller.