Evaluation of Rough Cut

Taking a step back and looking at our thriller opening from an analytical stance is essential in ensuring our piece gets better and better until we finally consider it finished. Just like any piece I'll analyse it in terms of editing, camera angles and sound. In this piece I'll be evaluating the 'Rough Cut' version of our opening.

In terms of camera angles, we ensured we used a variety of camera angles. It begins with a wide shot swinging into an over the shoulder shot. This shot is very effective at making the park look isolated and in turn making the man walking in it more mysterious. The close ups of the man being held captive do an excellent job of capturing the worried emotion of the hostage. The over the shoulder shot/high angle shot brilliantly captures both the fear on the hostage's face and translates the danger Joanna poses as an interrogator with the bat. The high angle nature of the shot even shows her clear power over him. Also, Joanna lowering herself to threateningly say, "Time's ticking", could both literally and metaphorically represent Joanna having to bring herself down to his level.

The lighting in the rough cut is relatively effective. Most of the scenes are very well lit, giving each shot the focus they should have. The outdoor shots look like natural daylight yet are low key enough to look somewhat sinister. The indoor shots make use of a spotlight on the hostage, clearly outlining the importance of him as a character, or the importance of the information he carries. The indoor scene also purposely omits using a backlight to make the location seem more cryptic and casts an ominous shadow on Joanna which makes her look a lot more threatening.

The sound in this rough cut, thought clearly not finished, is of average quality. In terms of diegetic sound, there are pieces of dialogue which add to the tense atmosphere. The decision to make the odd man in the suit speak in a foreign language makes him more mysterious and creates more questions in the viewers' minds. The non-diegetic sound in the rough cut consists of a eerie background track which really adds to the suspense and enigmatic theme in the opening.

Now, finally, in order to improve our rough cut to transform into a final product, we will make a few changes based on the evaluation too. Firstly we will add bars to the top and bottom of the opening throughout it to make it appear more professional. This technique is often applied in real films and it helped cut out some unfavourable background visuals in our opening. The title card of the film will also be changed as it looks very unprofessional and has no connection to the theme or narrative of the film whatsoever. The title cards will also be shortened as they linger too long and break up the pace of the opening. With them shorter viewers will be less bothered at having to look at names for a majority of the opening. With these changes, the opening will be more professional and reduce confusion amongst the audience.