Review of Test Shoot

Review of Test Shoot 

After reviewing the full edited version of the Test shoot our production group discussed what went well and the errors that we made which we could then improve upon. We felt are idea did translate across, however one issue in how we translate the narrative is that there wasn't a slow rise of tension , especially in the first half of the sequence that truly set the tone and atmosphere, however the 2nd half of the sequence with the funnel did come across as disturbing and creepy. The sequence needs to be more engaging from the start, this can hopefully be achieved with more closeups of the berries and the funnel before it goes into the woman's mouth.

There is a large issue with the fact that the opening tittle sequence has a run time of only 1m 25s which is way too short, however by increasing the quantity of shots at the start the sequence, showing some creepy plants, strange parts of the setting and of the creepy killer man may fix this and the issue of the lack of tension in the beginning. Due to the lack of immediacy in the sequence it does feel a little slow to start however this will feel better when more subtle clues are given to the situation and the sadistic act the man is committing which will add considerable amounts of tension which in turn will fix some of the slow pacing.

The narrative we feel is clear to the viewer at becomes even clearer later on throughout the sequence. The details could be sharpened up significantly more though such as showing the man is sadistic and showing that the two are not strangers which hopefully help viewers engage more with the two characters by anding more connections between the two.

The camera angles used so far have been a sound starting point but need significantly more close ups as the focus on the sequence is also on the titles if there is too much in each shot then the screen will feel completely cluttered. There was some footage lost due to the camera not being on record for some scenes and some shots where just done for the sake of adding more shots as opposed to really checking whether it would work with what is trying to be conveyed in the frame; a tilted camera angle we used once of the woman in the chair worked incredibly well so we will introduce more of those angles. The 180 degree rule of filmmaking wasn't followed particularly carefully as some of the shots placed together can be a little confusing as you don't get a great idea of the space in which the sequence is taking place and where things are situated in the room

As much as we need to increase the number of shots and the overall runtime we do feel that some shots do need to go such as the ones of all the greenery at the start since it fills up about 20s of time and are not particularly which therefore means we need even more shots than before, we are working on this now and have already concluded that there will be more of the man enjoying watching his sister suffer and him taunting her a little with the poison and to also show more of the interior of the room to once again add to the atmosphere and overall tone of the sequence.

Finally, the continuity in the test shoot was very wonky as objects seemed randomly appear and disappear when watching the edited version back. An example of this is when the cup of berries (berries themselves not in test shoot) seems to come from the left hand of the screen, from the window sill yet earlier in the footage when the left of the room is in full view in the putting on gloves scene there is no sign of the cup which contains the berries.