LO4: Evaluation, Codes and Conventions

My short film, The Mercer Case is of the mystery genre. the conventions of the mystery genre are generally the consistent use of low key lighting and flashback sequences. Throughout a lot of popular mystery genre films, close-ups are used towards the beginning of the film with wide shots and medium close-ups towards the end of the film. This is a method used to connote the discovery of information throughout the narrative.

The use of low key lighting helps to connote that the audience and the 'detective character' doesn't have all of the information. It also helps to tell the audience that there is more to the plot than has been discovered so far.

In my film, I stuck to this convention by using the same low key lighting to show that there is still more information to uncover.

In mystery genre films, close up shots help to convey tension and to show the subtle facial expressions and 'tells' of the characters, helping the audience to learn the plot at the same rate as the detective. When used in a linear style with wide shots (lots of close ups at the beginning and lots of wide shots at the end), it can connote the uncovering of information within the narrative.

I had initially planned on following this convention by using lots of close ups and extreme close ups at the beginning of the film and medium close ups and full shots at the end of the film. However, I don't believe that I executed this as well in the production phase as I had envisioned in the pre-production phase. While I do think part of this was caused by the lenses I used not allowing for that high quality close ups, I also think that the time period I was trying to convey the narrative in didn't allow for as in-depth use of shot types and camera angles as I was ambitioning for. I did stick to the convention of using close ups to show the more subtle facial expressions and 'tells.'

Flashbacks in any film, but especially in mystery genre films is a way of filling in the narrative context by showing what a character is remembering throughout the scene.

I stuck quite closely to the conventions of flashback scenes in films by applying a desaturated effect to the footage. As is conventional in most mystery films, the intent of the flashback scenes in my film are to fill in the missing narrative detail as the detective figures more and more out.

I ended up making a lot of changes from what I had decided on in pre-production simply due to them being 'too ambitious' with regard to the equipment I had available to me (e.g. I had planned to have a dolly zoom shot). Throughout the production phase of the film production, I removed a lot of the camera movements as I found it was very difficult to get a moving shot to move smoothly, and thus it lowered the quality of the footage I was getting. More in terms of special effects, I had to drop the use of the gunshot flash special effect I was going to create using a photography flash light as the light flashed too quickly. So, instead of using the SFX I had planned to use, I applied a flash effect as VFX in post-production. I also ended up needing to change a lot of my plans for cinematography on one of the recording days as the room I had planned to use became unavailable due to the weather (the microphone was picking up the rain sounds). In post-production, I also made some creative editing choices that differed from my storyboards. The main reason for this was due to the footage I had planned on getting wasn't obtainable in production and me deciding that a different bit of footage suited to mood more than what I had planned.

My biggest self criticism about my short film is the unnatural dialogue. I believe that it sounds robotic. In future projects, I want to make sure I take more time to listen to the dialogue spoken out loud to ensure that it sounds natural and human. I could achieve this by running an initial script read where I pay special attention to the phrasing and nature of the dialogue and then work on amending any downfalls to form a new draft of the script. Moving on from this, I could run a second script read to ensure that the changes made were worthwhile. Despite the fact that have previously stated that my planning to use moving shots was ambitious, I believe that the use of moving shots can help to make the scenes feel more dynamic and engaging. This is something I would like to try and integrate into my future projects.

Something that helped me to get a grasp onto where my short film was being held back (especially in the editing process) was audience feedback. While editing, I tend to lose touch with which parts of my film look good and are engaging, and being able to present it to a group of people who haven't been working on the film allows me to gain a fresh perspective on the highs and lows of my short film. Furthermore, having non-media person suggestions on how I could bring a desired effect into a scene allowed me to consider new ideas and methods of creating that desired effect, perhaps in a way that I wouldn't have thought about without a prompt to do so. An example of this is the desaturation on the flashback scenes. While running a focus group, someone said that the flashback scenes weren't obvious enough, and this prompted someone else to suggest removing some of the colour from the scenes to suggest that it is a memory.

LO4: Reflection on Audience Feedback

Loud Unbalanced Dialogue

There were multiple scenes containing Ava that had some loud and overly unbalanced dialogue. To fix this, I went through all the dialogue and set each one to a reasonable volume. I then selected all of the dialogue and opened the audio workspace.

In the audio workspace, in the Essential Sound panel I assigned it as 'dialogue' and pressed auto balance. This feature brings all of the audio levels of the selected tracks to a balanced level which can be finetuned to preference afterwards.

Flashback Scenes

One of the bits of feedback I received was to make the flashback scenes more obviously flashbacks. To create this effect I desaturated the footage by creating another adjustment layer and placing it over the flashback scenes. Then, in the colour workspace, on the lumetri colour panels, I adjusted the saturation of the adjustment layers.

LO4: Gathering Audience Feedback

Focus Group

• Loud, unbalanced dialogue during living room scene and Ava's interrogation scenes.
• Dialogue at end is too quiet.
• Flashback scenes should be made more obvious.
• Maybe desaturate them
• Up the contrast on some scenes
• 2nd Gun Drop
• Slow the Ava shot down
• I tried doing this, but slowing this clip down made it seem jumpy and low quality, so I will be leaving it at its normal speed.
• Ethan leaving the house scene
• His head is too close to the edge of the screen.
• I will be unable to fix this issue due to not having footage I can use to replace it. While I could cut this shot, it has relevance and importance to the plot.

Online Questionnaire/ Survey

LO3: Drafts

Draft 1:

This is the first draft of my short film, The Mercer Case.

LO3: Offline Edit

Below is the offline edit of my short film, this edit contains no VFX, Sound FX or graphics.

LO3: Post-Production (Editing)

Scene 1:

Scene 1, being the opening scene to what I have defined as a crime/ mystery film needs to be enigmatic to suit the codes and conventions. To do this, I have used quick cuts and a slow motion effect. The quick cut to the gun being kicked away instantly establishes that some form of a crime has occurred without giving away what crime, or who committed it.

I applied a slow motion effect as it allows for the enigma to be dragged out for longer without it seeming too dragged out. But it also allows us to see the scene how Ethan is experiencing it, this is then enhanced by the foley for the scene; heartbeats, heavy breathing and a tinnitus-like sound.

To cut the footage, I would locate where I wanted to cut the footage by navigating through to roughly where the cut should be and then using the arrow keys to go forwards/ backwards frame by frame to find the exact point I should cut. Then, I use the Razor Tool to cut at where I decided. After repeating this for each piece of footage that makes up this scene, I put them in the correct order and ensured they are all paced nicely with each other. If I found that a certain shot was too short or too long, I would drag from the beginning/end of a shot to shorten/ lengthen it.

To affect the speed of each shot, I right clicked on the shot, selected 'Speed/ Duration' and then adjusted the speed of the shot.

I also utilised an Eyeline Match as a way to show that a gun had been used. The eyeline match consists of two shots, Officer Warwick looking off screen, and a shot of the gun.

Scene 2:

Scene 2 is the title sequence. It only required using the text tool along with placing some sound effects and music.

Scene 3:

This scene is a purely conversational scene in which Officer Warwick is interrogating Ethan Mercer, the main purpose of this scene is to introduce the two main characters and the events that have taken place.

Shot 1: Warwick picking up and opening Ethan's case file. This not only adds depth to the world that this film is set in by showing that Ethan's case file is clean and undamaged, suggesting that this is the first bit of crime he has been involved in. It also allows Ethan's name to be shown, introducing his name non-verbally.

Shot 2: Ethan looking down in defeat and regret. This shot allows the association between the name on the folder and the character. The close-up on his face shows the lack of freedom he has in the situation he has put himself in. To juxtapose this, I have framed him from a slightly low angle to show that while he has no freedom, he accomplished everything he wanted to and in his mind, he won.

Shot 3: Warwick interrogating Ethan. I have framed Officer Warwick in a medium close-up to instantly connote his control in this situation, and to show that despite the fact he is sitting opposite a murderer, he feels powerful.

Shot 4: Ethan filling in the details of what happened before he left his house. This shot has zoomed out to a medium close-up in order to represent that Warwick is learning new details about the crime. It also helps to add some variation to the shot reverse shot structure, helping audience engagement.

Shot 5: Medium Close-Up of Warwick

Shot 6: Medium Close-Up of Ethan

Shot 7: Medium Close-Up of Warwick

Shot 8: Ethan thinking back to Ava returning home. I used a close-up in order to connote that the memory he is thinking back to is unpleasant and uncomfortable. This shot is also involved in a jump cut to the next scene. The main purpose of the jump cut is to show that the following scene is a flashback.

Scene 4:

Scene 4 consists of a conversation between Ethan and Ava before the murder is committed. I wanted to show off the dynamic of their sibling relationship, hence the warm colour grading. I also used a lot of medium close-ups in order to show their comfortability towards each other, while still showing the seriousness of the situation Ava is in.

To enter this scene seamlessly from the previous one, I used a jump cut. This also allows it to be clearly pointed out that this scene is a flashback.

As this is a conversational scene, I used the Shot-Reverse-Shot Structure to make it seem appropriately paced and conversationally legible. While editing using the Shot-Reverse-Shot Structure, there are usually a combination of Two Shots/ Group Shots and Medium Close-Ups. My Shot-Reverse-Shot Structure for scene 4 is made up of the following 7 shots.

Two Shot (to establish the characters position in relation to each other)

• Camera facing towards Ethan as he is in control of the conversation

Medium Close-Up of Ava (to show her facial expressions towards the topic being discussed)

• I have used a Medium Close-Up to show that she is comfortable sharing the situation she is in with Ethan.

Medium Close-Up of Ethan (Reaction Shot to show Ethan's reaction to Ava's situation)

Two Shot (to re-represent their sibling dynamic)

Medium Close-Up of Ava (to show her comfortability, but also to show her reaction to Ethan asking her to stay here)

Medium Close-Up of Ethan

Medium Close-Up of Ava

Scene 5:

Scene 5 is very similar to Scene 3 in that it is entirely composed of a shot reverse shot structure. I use a lot of the same shots with the same meanings. I had originally planned to have an insert shot of Ethan being handed a gun, but with later reflection, I decided that this wouldn't make sense narratively with his character being typically more peaceful, so the shot would only act as filler so I decided not to use it.

Scene 6:

Scene 6 is purely there to create a differentiation between Ethan being interrogated and Ava being interrogated. By showing Ava in the living room where Ethan left her, and using a J Cut to transition from Scene 6 to Scene 7, the audience will be able to figure out that Warwick is talking to Ava and not Ethan.

Scene 7, 8 and 9:

These scenes are all linked as Scene 7 is Ava being interrogated by Warwick, Scene 8 is a flashback to Ava pacing around the living room and Scene 9 is Ava crying thinking back to seeing Ethan holding a gun at Marcus.

(Scene 7) Shot 1: Ava answering Warwick's question about what happened near her after Ethan left. I have used a medium close-up at eye-level to show that despite the fact that she feels uncomfortable because of Ethan becoming a murderer, she feels safe now.

(Scene 7) Shot 2: Warwick interrogating Ava. I chose to have Warwick stood up in this scene so that I could use a medium close-up, low angle shot. Using a low angle allowed me to show that Warwick is dominant in this situation, whereas the medium close-up shows that the is comfort between Ava and Warwick, connoting that Warwick is on Ava's side in this conflict.

(Scene 7) Shot 3: Ava answering Warwick's question and beginning to think back to being at home after Ethan left. As this is the beginning of Ava thinking back to an unpleasant memory, I have moved into a close-up from a slightly high angle.

(Scene 7) Shot 4: Warwick asking how long she had been waiting. Medium close-up and low angle. Using a low angle allowed me to show that Warwick is dominant in this situation, whereas the medium close-up shows that the is comfort between Ava and Warwick, connoting that Warwick is on Ava's side in this conflict.

(Scene 8) Shot 5: Ava pacing around the living room. This scene acts as a flashback and allows me to use an L Cut, having audio from the previous scene continue into this scene, allowing the narrative to flow smoothly across the scenes. This scene could also be classed as an insert shot.

(Scene 9) Shot 6: Ava thinking back to seeing Ethan holding a gun at Marcus. I have used a close-up, eye-level shot as I wanted this shot to feel uncomfortable to reflect Ava's thoughts.

(Scene 9) Shot 7: Ava's flashback to Ethan holding a gun at Marcus. This shot is an insert shot from Ava's flashback. In reflection, I should have taken this shot from the doorway as that is where Ava is seen in this room.