Q2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Q3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Pg 13

Pg 15  

Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction, research & planning, and evaluation stages?

Final Products for 'The Bonsai Tree'

Film Poster

Magazine Front Cover

Film Trailer

Constructing the title and credits for the trailer

This is the process for how we edited the title and credits for the end of our trailer so that it conforms to the conventions of a real film trailer. We added transition effects for the title but for the credits we left it because it was more effective to leave it as it was.

Recording the voice over

The final part of construction is the voice over. We left this until last because it is easier to work around the footage as opposed to working around the voice over. 

The tools we used were:

• 2 Macbooks; 1 for watching the video, 1 for displaying the script 
• 1 iPhone 5s for the Voice Memo 
• 1 pair of Apple Earphones (built in microphone)

By viewing the trailer on one Macbook, James, Chandler and I were able to time the cues for pauses and when I should start recording my voice. Having the script on the other Macbook helped to remind me of the lines in case I forgot the words. 

The process involved recording more than one take so we could pick the best version to put in our film trailer. From my phone, I attached the voice memos to an email and sent them to my school email. We downloaded the clips and imported them onto Premiere. We used the razor cut tool to divide the voice memo into pieces which made it easier to place the voice over in the right sections.

Trailer Draft 2: New Intertitles

Having analysed the Kung-Fu Killer film trailer, we were inspired by the gradual movement of the intertitles and wanted to achieve the same effect with our intertitles. We also made the subtitles a little smaller and changed the content of the intertitle because "Blood will spill" sounded too much like a horror film. 

EDITING: Voice Over Script

Together we transcribed the different themes in our film onto the voice over script which will be spoken by me. We will be using the Voice Memo feature on the iPhone to record my voice.

The Yakuza are defined by 3 principles. [pause]

[Japanese words are said aloud, English translation are in subtitles]


 

Chusei (Loyalty ), Gaman (endurance), seigo-sei(integrity ).

It’s never been in my nature to sit down and be idle. 

It was always about obeying my father’s wishes.

But I’ve realised… 

It means nothing to me now. 

My “family” fail to notice the Yakuza blood coursing through my veins…

I have never stood a chance against my brother.

I’m tired of walking in his shadow.

I have what he has, the power, conviction and blood thirst. 

Once I’ve climbed to the top… No one can stop me

They’ve underestimated me for too long.

I will dispose of anyone who gets in my way; even if it means burying my loyalty 

Possible Intertitles:

Blood will spill  
 You have to fight...... To prove your worth

Family will mean nothing

Editing: Cutting Footage

During editing, we realised that some of the footage we filmed would either disrupt the pace of the trailer or some of the footage just didn't fit together because they didn't make sense when put next to the new scenes. This was a difficult decision to make because the shots were quite good.

The city montage disrupted the flow of the story no matter where we placed it, so we decided to cut it out. 

We also cut the scene of Marcus shooting the gun because we had the same shot of Chantelle; the victim's point of view shot would be less potent if we were to use the same idea twice. 

The shot of James being threatened and killed on the staircase would reveal too much of the plot so we decided to leave this scene out. 

We collectively decided to delete the footage of Daniel being shot on the floor because the scene also disrupts the fast pace of the fighting montage. 

The additional flashback scene of the younger Kazuo was also cut out because it would need further development that wasn't really necessary because he is not the protagonist. 

Trailer Draft 1 (without the voice over)

We recorded audience feedback of the trailer firstly without the voice over to test the clarity of our storyline.

These are the questions we asked our peers:

1) What is the genre?

2) What do you think the plot of the film is?

3) What stood out to you the most? 

4) Did any of the scenes confuse you?

5) How can we improve our trailer?

Case Study: 'Kung Fu Killer'

This case study is specifically for analysing the effects, editing, intertitles and subtitiles. By viewing foreign films such as 'Kung Fu Killer', we gained some insight into what the fighting scenes should consist of and the way the shots are pieced together. 

The exposition begins with the establishing shot set in prison, accompanied by an announcement about a homicide which immediately presents the problem. The close up of Donnie Yen indicates he is the protagonist and the fighting ensues after his plea to make an "urgent call" is rejected by the police officer. At this point, the low hum of the background music ceases and is replaced by loud thumping sounds that match the fighting. The fighting scenes are compiled using fast-paced cuts and by sandwiching the slow motion within these fast cuts, the action is emphasised. The flickering effect also intensifies the fight sequence.

The plot develops as the reason for the fighting was to get the attention of the higher ranking officers. The production logos are then edited after the exposition which allows the audience to digest the exposition. The protagonist reveals he can help the police "catch the killer" which is followed by a jump-cut to a shot of a victim. This leads to the protagonist being set free.

The first intertitle is inserted to begin another sequence "FIVE GRANDMASTERS" in a sans serif font (sustained throughout the trailer ) which conforms to modern action films. The intertitles briefly introduced the main characters, the shot of the villain lingered longer than the supporting characters. I also noticed that the intertitles travel; the slight movement ensures that the pace is not disrupted. 

The title and credits have conformed to the conventions because they are placed at the end and entail the details such as dates, website, and the director.

Editing: The Flickering Gun scene

James was not available to edit today so Jasmine, Chandler and I proceeded on to adding effects. I edited this flickering gun scene by using the razor tool to divide the clip into small sections, after that I dragged a transition effect, specifically 'dip to black' on each section to achieve the flickering effect you will see in this video:



We were very excited. 

Editing: Importing the sounds from Incompetech

The team were unable to come into school to edit so I was tasked with testing and importing the different sounds that we had all chosen from Incompetech to see what would suit the scenes more. 

To create a calm atmosphere I used a tranquil, guitar piece called 'Ripple' which sounded oriental so it fit the Japanese theme. This wasn't hard to choose in comparison to the scenes where the problem begins to develop.

For the walking scene I imported a heavy, metallic sound called "Melancolith" which continues throughout the development.  

VLOG: Slapping scene and Fight Showdown

ACTORS

• Yakuza member - Eugene Laureta
• Kato Maki/Father - Francois Francisco
• Kaya Maki - Chantelle Anonuevo

SCENES

• Kaya's father slaps her across the face for her disobedience
• A fight ensues between Kaya and an unknown Yakuza member

SHOT LIST

• 2-shot 
• Reaction shot (Extreme close up)
• Tracking shot
• Mid-shot/Profile shot
• Perspective shot
• Low angle shot

For the slapping scene we filmed inside my living room and for the fighting showdown, we filmed in a nearby carpark. 

James was in charge of directing and filming the fighting scenes while Chandler, Jasmine and I filmed and directed the slapping scene. Today we used the tripod to stabilise the camera during the 2 shot and when it came to the perspective and profile shots I held the camera.

Slapping Scene

We directed Francois to remove his glasses before backhanding Chantelle; I suggested he do this so that when the audience watch the trailer, they immediately focus on his hand even before he slaps her. We were a little concerned about this scene because we didn't want Francois to hurt her so we rehearsed the scene a few times before he really did slap her. We agreed to improve the sound effect on Adobe premiere by downloading a non-diegetic slap sound. 

We also spent a few minutes voice coaching Francois because he had to say: 
Anata no basho o shitte iru (TRANSLATION: Know your place) 

Fight Showdown 

The sun was shining and the warm breeze was refreshing, it was a perfect day to film outside. We tasked my brother, Eugene, with the fighting choreography. To give him some idea of what we needed, I explained that Chantelle had to win the fight. We gave him a few minutes to teach Chantelle a few moves while James, Chandler and I discussed the different shots. We also planned to speed up some of the motions in case they were too slow. 

James tracked the fighting choreography in a circular motion to give the illusion that the camera rotated 360 degrees. The result was a seamless fighting sequence. 

To conclude the scene, James filmed Chantelle punching Eugene unconscious using a perspective shot. 

As with Francois, we voice coached Eugene and Chantelle because of the Japanese dialogue: 

Dono yo ni fukaku watashitachi no rutsu? (TRANSLATION: How deep are your roots?)

and 

 Sono fukakunai. (TRANSLATION: Not that deep)

Editing: Cross cutting the bar and car scenes

To engage the audience more, I thought it would be a good idea to cross cut the car scene and the bar scene because the car scene shows what she is capable of which answers her dialogue "It's funny how they don't know what I'm capable of".

I asked the group about what they thought about this before editing, however they weren't sure how to visualise what I meant so I edited the footage to show them. 

Using the razor cut tool I cut the parts I wanted from each scene and pieced them together in this order:

Car scene: Walking into car
Bar scene "it's funny how they don't know what I'm capable of"
Car scene "is this all I need?"
Bar scene "they don't", *glass clink*
Car scene "Yes kaya-sama"
Footage of photographs over the dialogue from car scene "get rid of these rats and you'll gain the yakuza's approval"

Case Study: 'Equalizer'

VLOG: Kazuo Fighting Scene

Location: 3rd Floor Indoor Balcony 

We realised our antagonist, Kazuo, only appeared in our trailer once so we planned to film a short scene of Marcus fighting someone to show his strength.

ACTORS

• Kazuo Maki - Marcus Francisco
• Guy being beaten up - Chandler Idos

SCENES

• Kazuo punches the guy in the stomach and kicks him on the ground

SHOT LIST

• Over the shoulder shot
• Close up shot
• Perspective shot
• Low angle shot
• Long shot

We picked this location because the balcony is very narrow; the person being beaten up looks cornered and chances of escape looked slim. I filmed this scene using the shaky camera technique to convey a sense of panic. 

This scene had to be very fast paced however we filmed some shots with the intention of speeding up the footage. 

Chandler looked unrecognisable without his glasses and the hood hid most of his face so he looked like a completely different person.

Audience Feedback on Ancillary Tasks

Constructing the production logo: Zen Productions