Feedback For Our Final Production 'Paranioa'

The feedback was an important part of our film-making, we felt that it was best to get unbiased responses from the group that we screened the opening to. We felt that this would help our team to either re-edit parts of the movie for a better viewing experience, and also if we achieved the outcome that we desired. For us it was not just about quality in regards to how clear the picture may have seemed, but if we were able to create tension. With some viewers they preferred the X-ray edited effect, rather than the black and white effect, we did feel that the latter effect did not really work, however we gave it a chance with first screening. Clearly this was not preferred, so we chose to change the style here. All in all, we are pleased with the comments, we could not address all concerns, as we were restricted by time, and schedules clashing to organise re-filming or re-editing.

Sabah Sarwar - Opinion on Opening

Like I’ve said before I think that the overall final film was very professional and had showed clear evidence that the directors knew what they wanted. As a result of the passion and commitment they had, resulted in them producing a very good film. I prefer the effect that they have used this time round rather than the black and white version they produced.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)


Yes I was. I would gladly sit in a cinema watching it as I don’t think I will get bored.


Rating out of 10


9/10


Tips that we could use next time


Choose a different ending such as when the boy jumped over as it went too slow.



Sonia Ahmed - Opinion on Opening

I think personally I liked the first version better because of the black and white effect. I didn’t like the way the credits came because of the constant used in it. I liked the sounds used such as the heartbeats.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)


Yes I was. If the x-ray thing wasn’t there and left it black and white, then I would go to watch it at the cinema.


Rating out of 10


7/10


Tips that we could use next time

Leave it as a cliff-hanger at the end and put the film name in and that is when the film starts.　

Husaam Hussain - Opinion on Opening

Overall I think it was a good production for the final draft. The production logo was the improvement from the draft and it has fitted in to the opening scene well. The camera work seemed pretty professional and the background music suited the scene.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was satisfied if they had changed the colour back to how it was before when it was black and white.

Rating out of 10


7/10


Tips that we could use next time

I think that next they should keep the colour of the flashback scenes in black and white.

Umar Hussain - Opinion on Opening

Overwhelmingly I sincerely believe the production of this opening scene has been done up to a great standard however I think that the editing for the flashback in the draft was better than the one in this final production.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I was very satisfied and if the changes I wrote were made then it would be perfect.

Rating out of 10

8/ 10

Tips that we could use next time

Use better and more active actors to make it more realistic such as Husaam Hussain and Umar Don Hussain.



Basil Hassan - Opinion on Opening


I think it worse than the first one. This is because it’s too much effect which makes it unprofessional. Too many effects take the tension away.


If you were satisfied (Yes/No)


No


Rating out of 10


4/10


Tips that we could use next time


Don’t use too much of the effects.



Shabir Dogar - Opinion on Opening

I believe the final draft of ‘paranoia’ is excellent, as the opening scene is very interesting; it gets you stuck in, you want to know why this girl is running, what she did. Why she did it. The music used in the background suits the tense scene. The effects such as ‘x-ray’ are good as they catch your attention, you can’t look away. However, once again the font used for credits isn’t the best as it’s hard to read the text.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

Yes I am and would really look forward to watching that in the cinema.　

Rating out of 10


10/10　


Tips that we could use next time

I think that everything was really good apart from the opening credits as they could be clearer and bigger.

Choi Tsang - Opinion on Opening

I liked the x-ray effect because it creates mystery and suspense. I liked the transactions that happen between each clip. I now like the shot of when he puts his hand on her as it creates tension which is because of the x-ray effect. I liked the way that the different camera angles have been used.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)


Yes I was because of the interesting storyline.


Rating out of 10


8/10


Tips that we could use next time


To make sure there is no people in the background and cut out the natural sounds such as the wind; it ruins it slightly.



Our Opinions


Aabidah Ali (me) – Director Opinion on Opening

Overall the final draft of the opening was good. I think that the video effect was  brilliant seeing as it is meant to be a flashback; also the music went well with the scary scenes. Generally I am pleased with the outcome, seeing as we are new at being directors. The experience was frustrating at first but gratifying in the end.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)


I am happy with the production.


Rating out of 10


8.5/10


Tips that we could use next time

Better equipment maybe and have the actors sign a contract so they are committed to doing the film.

Safina Rashid – Director Opinion on Opening

I think that since the draft, the production has improved very well and I think personally the x-ray effect looked better than the black and white as it looked more scary and dark. I think that the opening credits could have been a bit longer. I am in general quite pleased with the end result.

If you were satisfied (Yes/No)

I am quite happy with what the production looks like at the end and would say that I am satisfied with what I have created.

Rating out of 10


8.5/10


Tips that we could use next time

I think that we should next time film the shots during the time as when in the actual film it’s showed so that it matches and we can improve on how we worked the storyline to play out more so that it’s mysterious and not too complicated for the audience to understand.

Main Task - Final Production 'Paranioa'

Main Task - Editing

After we got all the filming done and were satisfied with our clips the next thing that we had to do was edit our clips and make sure it would come together as a 2 minute opening.


It took us a while to upload the actual clips because we forgot how to, as it had been a while since we used it. After we figured it out we uploaded our clips onto the Mac laptop, then we had to decide which order the clips were to be placed. After putting the clips in the correct order next step was to shorten some of the frames and clips, so that they followed the next frames on time and smoothly. For example we had to cut one of the clips where Nadia was running up to the gate entrance so it could match the next frame on time this was an important frame because of our brief (match on action) so we had to get it right.


One of the hardest clips we had to edit was when Nadia was sitting down and Memz was about to attack her with a branch from here we wanted to get Nadia’s point of view of the attack so Memz had to hit the camera but quite fast both these shots had to be quite consistent and fast. We had to get the first clip where you see Nadia about to be hit with the log, this was then matched with the second frame it was hard because we had to match how Memz was holding the Branch with the next shot which was Nadia’s point of view, doing this wasn’t easy but doing it few more times did help.


After shortening the clips till they were perfect the next thing we did was to add some video effects first we decided, where we should put the transactions this was quite fun to do because we got to experiment which transaction went well with the different clips, we didn’t want to keep every transaction the same because that would make it boring and dull we also wanted to use a transaction that fit in well with the clip. We put transactions in to show the viewers when there was a flashback and when it was showing in the present. While doing this we also decided to change the flashback clips into black and white flashbacks to create that past effect, but after doing this it didn’t look quite right because it was obvious we filmed during the day which didn’t look good to us. However as this was our first draft we still wanted other peoples opinions so we decided to let a group of people watch it. After getting the feedback for our first draft we decided to change the black and white appearance for the flashback scenes, from there we started to experiment with the different video effects which is why we decided to use the x-ray effect for our flashback scenes. As it was much darker and eerie, during the experimenting phase we also came across a video effect called heat wave which we used for our park clips because we wanted to give off a happy vibe. After getting all the video effects in we decided to slow some clips down because they were going too fast and vice versa. We did this to show some more emphasis on some of the clips, for example when she is running through the gate, we thought this scene went too quickly which is why we slowed it down and another example is when she is about to get killed we wanted to make this scene fast to shock the viewers.


The next thing we had to do was add the sounds in. We went through the different sounds and the music in iMovie 11 software, so as to try and find the right recording that would fit into our film. For example one of the sounds we used was police sirens in the end when Kate (Nadia), gets attacked to show that she didn’t escape but did get killed. We also used music that we altered by using garage band to play in the background faintly; this would give a scary effect to show something bad is going to happen. We wanted this music to be played in the background in all of our clips, also Safina made the piece of music in garage band. We wanted something original which is why we decided to try and make a chilling piece of music. Furthermore we used a sound clip for when the male character attacks the female character; we wanted to hear something when he hits her. Unfortunately we didn’t find the exact sound, but we did find something that worked well and would give the viewer a startling effect when they hear it. The most useful sound clip we used has to be the heart beat, when Kate is getting her breath back and to further the sense of tension.


The next step was the opening credits. This was quite fun to do and was very easy the only frustrating thing is that we had to do them over a couple of times, because when we would play the opening to see if it looked concise, sometimes the thickness of the font would make the words difficult to read. Next we had to decide on the speed of the words, when they came in and how long they should stay. Seeing as though we only had characters in our film opening, we decided to add a few more names to create a sense of authenticity to the 2 minute opening. After including all the actors’ names, we had to put in our names and job titles for the film. This showed the audience who made the film as well as who took on what responsibility for the making of the film, as we were given individual things to work on.


The next thing we did was put in our production logo, in the beginning to show the audience the company who made the film. We changed some things on the logo design; we made the blood on the logo brighter to make it stand out.


In the end we were very pleased with the editing that we had produced however we did change some aspects around that would become more noticeable by the audience for example the lighting and the sound of the music. We thought it was important to correct errors like this, which will mean the audience won’t be put off by mistakes; which is why we wanted the heartbeat sound to be really loud and some sounds to be lower than others in the film. We also changed some of the lighting in some of the clips to give off a darker background and lighter characters to make them more noticeable


Overall I was quite pleased with the editing at the end we worked especially hard at this stage because it was more difficult and important to get right. Seeing as this was our second attempt doing this we managed to do a good job in completing the work to its best quality and we are satisfied with the outcome also it has given me a skill which I would love to improve and use in the future.

Main Task - Software

The software I used to edit the film was iMovie on Mac laptop. IMovie is effortless and resourceful, with more time in using it, I got to see different sound effects and transitions we could use, and how to change the speed and video effects. This time Safina was able to take part in the editing and she really enjoyed it, she got to play around with the features and we tried different things to see which effects worked best. Even though editing the film was enjoyable and fun, because it was new to us there were some problems we encountered with the screaming shot, sometimes you could hear the screams and sometimes you couldn’t.


Using such software helped heighten the fear factor in our film, as well as helping to make the quality of the video effect better and the background sound.


The second software we used was ‘Garage Band’ this software aided us in making the music for the film. Although none of us have any training in playing an instrument, the software had an introductory tutorial. Initially we felt frustrated with ‘Garage Band’; it seemed as if we were at a disadvantage for not knowing how to play an instrument. But gradually, as with a lot of computer based software’s, it is a matter of experimenting and exploring the sounds.


At first we were quite frustrated because this was completely different and new, and we thought we had to start to learn an instrument. But gradually after completing the tutorial we came to enjoy playing the virtual instruments.

The software actually had some short pieces of music pre-recorded, all we did was change the instruments, made it longer, and added a few other sound effects. I think for me this was my favourite software to work on because we didn’t have any technical problems with it, it was fun to use after we knew how to use it and we created music instead of just listening to it for a change.

Main Task - Final Production Logo

This is our film’s final production logo. Our name is called ‘Sister Productions’, I drew this by hand because it was easier but I did originally want to design it on the computer. I had access to cad software through a relative, however this is a complex piece of software to use, and involved him directly teaching me, which we both had little time for. I wanted draw something that was related to our film genre we chose to have a heart being stabbed because it represents what our production company are more likely make and produce horror films for example Disney productions only make films that are family oriented and that will entertain kids. If I had more time the banner going across the heart would have had our production name here, however I was pressed with completing the movie.

Feed back on first draft

When we finished our first draft within our group we showed, it to a small group of people in our target audience; and asked them their opinion on the film. We wanted to find out what areas of the film were not good, and areas that could be improved. Where the group thought that there were areas in which we could improve, we hoped this sort of unbiased feedback would help us to learn how we can complete the final draft. Below is some of the feedback from the initial screening we set up for a group of fellow student, most were an audience of 15-16 years old, which is the certification for our movie.

Sabah Sarwar - Opinion on the Opening

Overall, I found that the film that was made by Sister Productions was very good and looked very professional. From the opening scene I could clearly illustrate what the film was about. As well as it being a good production the actors were very good and had showed clear sign of good acting. This was probably due to the fact that the directors were very efficient and knew what they wanted.

What needs to be improved?

If there was something to improve about the film it was the end acting scene to where the actor (Memz Karakus) lacked the role. By this I mean the jump he did to hit Nadia was a bit slow. 　

Sonia Ahmed - Opinion on the Opening

I liked the whole concept of the film and it makes sense. Where they have put in the sound effects, I think they should have taken the natural sounds out. The credits at the start are coming too quickly not letting the audience see them.

What needs to be improved?

I think that opening credits could maybe be slowed down a bit. They need to put in the production logo at the start.

Husaam Hussain - Opinion on the Opening

Overall I think it was a good production for the first draft. The camera work seemed pretty professional and the background music suited the scene. There were good effects used as well.

What needs to be improved?

The thing I think could be improved is the style of font for the credits; it should be clearer so the person watching can read it properly.

Umar Hussain - Opinion on the Opening

I think that it has been done professionally. Over the shoulder shot was used in a professional manner and the editing effects was done in a high standard. The background engaged the audience and it makes you want to carry on watching ahead. I really liked the flashback idea; it seems that it has been done by a professional editor.

What needs to be improved?

I think that they should add in the production logo.

Basil Hassan - Opinion on the Opening

I think that it is dramatic and builds tension for the audience. The way the roundabout makes the audience anxious about what’s going to happen.

What needs to be improved?

They should keep the camera steady.

Shabir Dogar - Opinion on the Opening

After watching the first draft of ‘paranoia’, I think the storyline is very good. This is because it makes me want to watch on and is very interesting.

What needs to be improved?

I believe the font used for credits should be changed as it is barely visible on the background.

Choi Tsang - Opinion on the Opening

I think that it is good but it’s not as scary as it should be because of the people in the background. The background music is high quality and suited the atmosphere. It doesn’t create the suspense because it should be quick.

What needs to be improved?

I think that scene should be speed up a bit.

Our Opinions

Director: Aabidah Ali (me) - Opinion on the Opening

I think the first draft was good but the only problem we had was the lighting as we were filming in the daylight. Though we changed it to black and white, I could see the errors that we made in it due to the sun.

What needs to be improved?

I think that we should really have done the night shots at night so that the audience can see that it is clearly in the night. We also could have choreographed better. We should have got Nadia screaming at the right time.

Director: Safina Rashid - Opinion on the Opening

In my opinion, I think that the first draft was quite good despite being our first attempt. However there are a few things that I disliked about the production such as the black and white effect where you can see the sun in the background. This is because it is supposed to be dark showing that it’s a horror film. I also didn’t like that at some points where the camera is moving, it wobbles a bit. Another thing which is quite frustrating is that Nadia starts to scream when she is walking backwards however this isn’t shown in the production as its been cut out and the audience only hear her scream at the end shot. On the Mac, the credits are shown clearly and are big however on the computer it comes up fuzzy which doesn’t look right.

What needs to be improved?

I think that we should find a way to find to get Nadia’s scream back in where she starts to scream as it shows that she is scared. Also we need to sort out the opening credits and keep them clear so that the audience can see them. We should also do the night shots when it is actually dark.



*Saman Ali was unable to comment.

Paranoia - First Draft

This is our first draft of our horror opening. In this we decided to have the flashback scenes in black and white to show the viewer this is something that took place in the past. When we did this we saw that the black and white effect didn’t come out too well as it was obvious that we had filmed it during the day, because of the sun reflecting off the camera lens, we wanted to ideally have these shots to be in twilight or closer to the evening. The initial scenes shots did not give off that eerie tone we wanted. These problems we faced are experiences we learned from, with the various video effects to choose from and different colour changes we could change the tone to have a chilling and unsettling effect.


Another problem we had was that some scenes went too quickly. This may annoy the viewers because they might not be able to follow the film if the shots are too quick. To correct this we needed to work with the speed of some scenes to make sure that the frames were at a perfect pace to follow.


The other responsibility I undertook was that we had not put in the production logo for this draft, unfortunately we all decided on the logo quite late. And we were having trouble with the scanners at school, but we will be including it in our final horror opening film.