Twentieth Day Evaluation

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The Twentieth Day

The final rendition of our opening, complete with full titles and sounds. Main changes in this update include our names as titles at the very end, as well as an increase in contrast to create a more moody atmosphere!

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The Twentieth Day | Sounds

Sound design was headed by Josh Rossiter, and while we both had our inputs of ideas into the types of sound and recording methods, Josh recorded and edited the sounds to fit within our piece, as well as creating the music. Our main goal with the sounds was to create a realistic sounding atmosphere, which means we needed plenty of diegetic ambient sounds, including wind and footsteps for specific areas and locations. We also recorded a variety of sounds that were not essential but helped create a stronger mood, such as metal taps and chain rattles. None of the sounds we collected were from royalty-free sources, all were recorded on site or in post. 

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The Twentieth Day | Update 2

This was a rather major update in the process of creating this opening to feel like a proper opening to a movie. See below for the update:

In this update, a smaller change created was that the saturation was decreased in all the shots, washing out the colours more and creating a far bleaker, lifeless tone to the whole opening, as in previous shots we felt that the colours were too vibrant and did not represent the connotations of an abandoned, apocalyptic environment adequately. This update also came with the inclusion of titles appearing on screen. They were strategically placed in shots with little importance to the context of the story, but rather in shots that help develop the atmosphere. This way they do not interfere with the audience so much, and do not take away from the realism as they appear in the shots with non-diegetic music playing anyway. In order to maximise the realism and tension, however, we included only a few titles, just to make the opening seem more realistic.

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The Twentieth Day | Update 1

We have recorded all our shots and edited the majority of them to fit the theme of the opening movie. We also recorded the majority of the sounds needed for the production in our final shooting day. Our next step is finalising our ideas in post-production and recording the remaining sounds. As well as the important task of adding titles.

Of course, this update is still lacking in some sounds towards the end, and the titles will still need to be included. This updated added some much needed sound and music to help develop the atmosphere to the shots, and added the shots in the middle to develop the story and create a cohesive piece. This update is a key turning point in the production, as finally we fully understand the main aim of the piece and have obvious goals to shoot for. The next step is just fine-tuning until we are finished with a product we are completely happy with.

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The Twentieth Day | Ending Shots

In our second day of filming, we recorded what would consist of the ending of the opening, and edited it to continue the atmospheric themes created before. Again, the sound was not fully completed by this point, but our sound bank is slowly being filled, with custom music having been recorded. Sounds will be added later on in the editing process.

See below for video:

Our idea was to create a very mysterious opening, with a lack of answers on who the characters are and where the opening actually takes place, the intention of this is to create enigma codes that the audience would eventually decipher as the movie would progress, and keep them entertained as they would want to discover these answers. The mysteriousness also keeps the tension to a high degree, which is important in retaining audience interest. We plan to include diegetic ambient sounds during this scene, as well as the diegetic sounds that would come from ruffling clothes and using a lighter, to enhance the realism.

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The Twentieth Day | Opening Shots

We recorded the initial shots for the opening of our production, and edited them to create the atmosphere and tone we hoped to achieve with the piece. Sadly, a big part of the atmosphere is sound and we were not able to record the correct sounds on set, so sounds will be added later on n the project. 

See below for the video:

We focused on shots of the environment to emphasize the fact that the protagonist is isolated and alone in this location, creating a far tenser and gripping opening. The extreme close up towards the end focusing on a minuscule detail also emphasizes this fact. Our plan is to include ambient diegetic sounds of wind/birds etc, plus include a non-diegetic piece of music, which will be created by Josh. This will make the shots above feel far less mundane than they currently do. One step we may take to improve this is by increasing the length of time some of these shots are present on the screen, as this will enhance the ideas of isolation, as there is far less movement, creating a lifeless tone to the piece.

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