Introduction:

As a group, we were told to make a thriller film opening of any sub-genre we wanted, after discussing the sub-genres amongst ourselves we all decided on the medical side of the genre because we had easy access to things that would make the opening look for realistic and most people in the class had seen a medical thriller before so we all knew what needed to be included to make sure it looked professional. Although we were told to work in a group, we were also given individual tasks to do which included having some contribution to the editing of the final opening as well as filming and being there for the session we had scheduled. In my opinion, I believe the target audience for this movie opening was 17+, this made it easier for all of us to know what to add in to make it appeal to the viewers because as a class our age range is 17-18.

 

The reason why we made this film opening was because it helped make the evaluating process easier because we wouldn’t have to think back to previous times that we had filmed something like this. We were told we didn’t have to make one, but as a group I think we all agreed it was the best thing to do to help us.

 

Onset of the project:

Most of the filming sessions we had scheduled went well, everyone was communicating and putting their ideas forth to make sure we had a variety of choices to see which ones we liked more as well as everyone having a role, whether it was filming, directing, helping out with props or just standing around to give ideas on how to make things look better. However, near the end of the time we had for filming, one filming session was wasted because no one knew what we were supposed to be filming which meant no props were ready and no one knew what was going on due to the lack of communication. The problem with this was that we had to add one extra session at the end to make sure we could film anything we were missing in that time which just shortened onto the time we had before the deadline.

 

Research process:

To make sure we had everything figured out for how we were going to run the filming sessions as well as how we wanted the final opening to look, we decided to research different things that would be taken into consideration if we were filming this is a proper studio within the industry.

 

There was no decision really to who was doing which research, everyone in the group just volunteered for the one they thought would be best for them to do and what they would enjoy researching the most. Me and Carly worked together to come up with a title plan so we could decide which text we thought looked better with everyone’s names and the movie name. An equipment list was created by Matty so we were aware of everything we were using to ensure that we were keeping the same things and not changing throughout the different filming sessions as it would ruin how the clips would look. As well as doing the title plan, Carly also did the research for some SFX makeup inspiration so she was able to know how she wanted to do it which benefited both us as a group and her as an individual because she would be able to practice and get it the best she could.

 

Personnel management:

Due to the fact that we were working in a big group, there were many things that we needed to be aware of, for example, if anyone was away for a filming session for medical, school or personal reasons, we were all told in advance so we could change anything that needed to be changed. For example, when Laila missed one of her shooting schedules, we filmed some scenes that didn’t include her but if we had no other choice, we would’ve had to have used Annie to cover for her, which is what we had put down in our contingency plan while researching for the opening.

 

As well as cast, we also needed to take the crew into consideration. If the person scheduled to be director for that certain session was missing, the role would be given to someone else who was willing to do it. Most of the time, we were already aware of who could film when, so we were able to choose people who we thought would always be there and be the most reliable. The cinematographer wasn’t as cared about as the director or the actors because no one was labelled to do it, which allowed anyone who wanted to do film to just be able to without having to talk to someone else about changing their scheduled time to film.

 

Resource management:

The resources for this opening were a very big and important part of it which is why we took a lot of consideration into what we were doing and made sure we knew where we wanted to film and what we wanted to take with us to these filming sessions. However, although we had the room we wanted booked in advance for the certain filming session, almost every time we went down there, someone had forgot to pick up the food colouring which meant someone who wasn’t doing a lot in the session would have to run and get it which wasn't time that could’ve been used to film so important and key scenes. Another thing that went wrong most of the time was that the batteries of the cameras were were using we almost dead which gave us an limited time to film and we were rushing about because we weren’t sure when the battery was going to go flat, this led to some footage we captured not being good enough and looking rushed and unprofessional. In my opinion, things that we could’ve done differently would be, to talk about everything we needed to take with us to the science lab while we were waiting for everyone to arrive at the classroom to make sure we didn’t leave without anything, as well as checking the camera batteries before we left so if we needed to, we could change the camera to one that had more charge in it.

 

Time management:

Time management was something that we weren’t so good at towards the end of the time we had for filming because I think we just wanted everything to be over so we didn’t bother as much. If we hadn’t wasted on filming schedule and had to add another one who would’ve been able to meet the deadline for the filming. Another thing was that because we were rushing to have everything done on time, during one of the screenings, no one checked to see if the sound was working which meant it was shown with no sound. Things that we could do differently to make this opening seem as professional as possible is to not waste any time so we can meet filming deadlines as well as checking the sound and making sure there are no other faults before the screenings. 

 

Professional practice:

Just like anyone in the industry, we all took copyright into consideration because we knew eventually our movie opening would end up being posted either onto a website or onto YouTube. The way in which we made sure to avoid any copyright strikes is by making sure we chose music that wouldn’t get reported and didn’t copy and scenes from movies that had already been made and tried to make everything original.

 

The communication from everyone in the group was very professional as we spent most of our time talking about what we were planning on doing next for the opening and rarely spoke about anything else which proved how important we knew this opening was to us. Everyone listened to what others were saying and we collectively discussed which we thought were best and would benefit us in making a good trail.

 

Risk management:

A risk assessment was made to make all of us aware of all the things that cause injuries to any of us while we were filming in a science lab, some things that we took into consideration will down there was the different chemicals that may have been used on the desks and not wiped off properly, the flame from the bunsen burner if we needed it as well as broken glass that could be around the lab from an experiment going wrong during one of the lessons. We made sure these were all taken into consideration because we didn’t want anyone to get hurt while filming and wanted to ensure everyone was kept safe.

 

Not much was taken into consideration when it came to lighting which is one of the things that we should’ve put the most thought into, because of this we were using natural daylight from the windows around the room which was constantly changing between cuts because of the weather conditions we were filming in. If we were to do this again, I know we would all decide to use studio lights to make the lighting the same in all shots and look more professional and put together.

 

Crisis management:

There were some things that went wrong when it came to the main actors in the opening but there were ways in which we came together as a group to fix it and get things done so we weren’t wasting time. One example of this is when Matty was out for the lesson which meant he had missed the scheduled makeup Carly had arranged for him, this led to us not being able to film the scenes we had been planning on doing for that day. However, as a group we got over this and decided to film some scenes we needed that included Laila in them as we knew that she needed no makeup for any of her scenes.

 

To make sure we knew what to do if things went wrong, we collectively made a contingency plan to help stop us all from stressing about what we would do if someone was missing from their session. Luckily, we never had to use any of our backups for the actors as both Matty and Laila were reliable and turned up for most of their scheduled sessions and we were able to film everything we needed.

 

Not only did some things go wrong with the actors, we were also forced to change the location during one shoot as the classroom was being used, due to this we had to film extra scenes to make it make more sense and not seem random that Laila was in two different classrooms. The syringe we were using as a prop broke halfway through filming when the needle fell out and wouldn’t stay where we wanted it to, instead of thinking of ways we could change what we needed to film, we tried to make it look the best we could so we didn’t waste any time as we needed this footage for the whole storyline to make sense. 

 

Maintaining documentation:

To make sure that every piece of research we had done for this opening was somewhere where we could all easily find it, we all added it to our own blogs like we were told to and updated whenever we could, whether this was in the same lesson or during times in the day when we were free.

 

I also decided to place everything I wanted on my blog into a folder to make sure I could access it all easy and quickly without panicking and having to look through everything to find what I wanted.

 

Difficulties with project management and ways to improve:

Even though there were some good parts to making this movie opening, there were also a few things that went wrong. For example, I was in charge of making the titles but I missed the first deadline with it because there were problems with me being able to access premier pro at home as well as not being able to get it on the computer I was using during the lessons. The solution to this was that both me and Carly came together to make sure that it was done in time before we finished shooting so we could just choose a title and carry on with the editing. Another thing that went wrong was that there was a technical error with the media folder on some people's computer which meant they weren’t able to upload the footage we had filmed onto their computer. We eventually got around this problem and made a folder on Google Drive so that everyone who had no access to the media folder was able to see everything we had filmed.

 

I believe if we were split into smaller teams things wouldn’t have worked out as well as they did. The reason why I believe that is because within the group we had, everyone had something they were individually good at so we all helped each other and that is what got things done quicker than anything else we had done before. I also think the structure of the big group we were in was something that couldn’t be changed because if one person was in charge of everything, not everyone would feel comfortable putting their ideas forward as they may think they wouldn’t be listened to.

 

When it came to the roles that everyone had in the group, everyone was offering to do things they felt like they would be good at and that they knew they could confidently do to help the group. In my opinion, if roles would’ve been forced onto people, I think things would’ve gone badly because people might have ended up doing things they had never done before or weren’t comfortable doing.