Title sequence

For our opening title sequence we wanted to use some key images that stood out from the film to use as the background, so that the credits could run over them. We chose the image from the beach scene showing the tidal waves moving in and out crashing onto the beach, and we used the character Megan consistantly cleaning and scrubbing the floor. We slowed both of the images down making them go at the same pace and blended them together. These two images go well with eachother as the moving of the waves are constantly being repetative, the same as Megan moving the cloth up and down on the kitchen floor.

For our ending credits we used the classic white writing on a black background making it clear for all to read, and even though it is simple it is still effective. The more plain and practical it looked, the more we thought it would adress that there was still a serious message and topic to get across which was mental health issues. Using this straight simple format it could look like it was specifically designed to be showcased at a traditional film festival where we had planned to distribute our short film.

Editing process

Editing our film was quite a long process as we were very particular with how we wanted the film to look. We knew from our last project that Jazelle liked and was good at the editing process therefore this year she took over this specific part with the help of myself and jess's input of ideas. The editing programme allowed us to do various things throughout the duration of the film to help improve the overall look of the film. During the first half, the use of quick moving edit shots are used often to create a sense of panic reflecting off the main character, also the feeling of urgency suggesting something is going on. This will keep the audience watching and will intrigue them into wanting to find out what will happen next. The next half is the opposite to the first as the edit pace gets slower which changes the mood, its shows slow motion which contrasts with the short and quick shots that were shown previously. To show the scenes changing into the next we used the dissloving method to blend them together to change the scenes over in a nicer way. By changing the edit pace in the second half gives a chance to show the audience whats been going on and to help them understand it more.

Special effects

In our film we did use some special effects to make it look more interesting and less amateur, we also wanted to use effects that would go with our topic and portray someone being mentally ill and having certain types of issues. An example of this is where we super imposed some images together to create the effect of  being able to see double, suggesting someone having unsteady vision and showing a dizzy effect. This links well with the mental health issue to represent someone not being well, it could also indicate someone having two different sides to them through the illness. We used the zoom effect to get a more in depth view, for example when the three characters were standing in a line on the beach with their backs towards the camera. Using the articial zoom it could give a sense of being trapped when visually looking at the zoom scenes in the short film. We used this technique on several occasions, for instance when Megan is sitting on a bench with the angel and devil beside her, the shot then zooms onto her face to show a close up of her looking and feeling confuesed. Also when the boyfriend is stuck in the boot of the car with the effect leaving him looking trapped. We used the method of slow motion in the part where the three females are standing together looking towards the sea giving time for the audience to feel some emotion towards the situation of Megan.

Music

When thinking of music we wanted to choose something that would make our audience feel some sort of emotion whilst watching the film. We came across a piece of music which we really liked as it connected well emotionally with the sad narrative. The song that we chose was 'Fuera del Mundo' which is played on the piano and is a very relaxing piece of music to listen to, also i think the sound would touch and move the audience. When hearing this music before it made me think it had more of a romantic feel to it, so therefore the viewers could think in the same way and be mislead at the start and have a surprise by the end. When hearing this sound it does have the effect of making you start to sympathise with the characters regardless of the situation or if they are good or bad characters, and in this case the audience do not yet know that the lead character has committed a crime. The music does change in the second half of our film to a thriller sound which will make the audience know that something isn't right and that something bad will be revealed.

Costume ideas

When we were thinking of costume ideas, we straight away thought of what type of characters were involved and what sort of personalities they had, and then came up with clothing suggestions that would best bring out the character and their role.
The colour that first springs to mind with the character of the 'devil' was red, therefore Jess Whight who played this role wore a red top throughout the film which represented danger, something evil along with the idea of hate. She also had on black which went with the idea of bad thoughts and even death. Wearing make-up helped bring out this character more as having black around the eyes and red lips went with the whole devil image. The costume and image of our angel character would be the complete opposite as we made natasha who played this character wear a white top to represent the purity and innocence of this role. For the character megan who was played by Jazelle Johnson we went with any sort of colour worn together to help go with the impression of her suffering with a mental illness and having two different types of personalities. Towards the end of the film the character was wearing a black coat done again purposley to represent her commiting a sin along with the dark colour of  showing a bad energy which was surrounding her.

Film locations

When thinking of film locations and where we could film for our short film, we took our time and discussed it carefully within the group as the locations would be a crutial part into moving the storyline along and would help the audience understand what was going on better. We needed to get across that the main character was leaving her boyfriend, a type of incident had just happened and also show that she wasnt in the right state of mind mentally. We decided to firstly film in a kitchen as we could link her doing various things with objects such as cleaning products to go with the idea that she had some sort of illness, for example her consistantly scrubbing and cleaning. Also the kitchen area can be linked with where 'bad things' are more likely to happen within a household, for example, as it contains sharp objects that can be harmful or cause harm. We also done some filming in felixstowe and this was because the beach setting went well with the idea we was going for, and the idea behind it was to show the contrast, as usually felixstowe is a place where groups of people go to have fun and enjoy a day out somewhere different, where as in this case it was a place where 'megan' went to think about the innapropriate thing she had done whilst having a mental breakdown of good and bad thoughts rushing round. On the day of filming it was very windy and cold, with the sky dull and grey and this helped go with the concept that there was the sense of a bad atmosphere and that megan wasnt content with what was happening in the world around her.

Chosen certificate for our short film

From doing some research on the British board of film classification i believe that our short film best suits the certificate of a 12/12a as it doesnt involve any bad language, sex scenes or nudity and no type of drug use are used in any part of our film. The topic of our film would be acceptable for this certificate as its a psychological thriller with the element of mental health issues ivolved which is focusing on a more realistic storyline to other films that are in the film industry and therefore teenagers would cope more when watching certain scenes and also have more of an understanding to whats actually going on, rather than a PG rating where the child would be confuesed and mistunderstand certain situations, and could find themselves becoming distressed. Our film does include some inappropriate behaviour, but is only shown in quick brief shots, for example when the leading female character 'meagan' is shown to be opening the boot of her car which then it is revealed to the audience that there is a male trapped with tape over his mouth, but there are no scenes actually showing how the character ended up there and no domestic abuse or physical violence were shown. Our film does only contain one swear word throughout which is accepted. As our film is rated to be a 12, anyone of this age and above will be accepted to watch this film, where as anyone under this age the rating would be classed as a 12a and it would be up to the decision of a parent or gurdian to allow the child to see it but the adult must also accompy them.