Script for Evaluation Q4 - Integrating Technologies

How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?

ALEX: Welcome back to the Usual Suspects podcast, the film podcast dedicated to the mysteries and puzzles of the thriller genre. Before the break we were talking to Eliana Brassey about her new thriller ‘Keep’. So Eliana, can you tell us a bit more about the hardware, software and online resources you used during this project?

ELIANA: Well, to film the opening scene I used a Panasonic HD digital video camera. I had this mounted, at times, on a tripod, though because it was so lightweight and portable I was able to film lots of handheld shots, like the bird’s eye view shots of my protagonist and POV shots as if from her perspective. Once the film had been completed, I uploaded all the footage onto an HP laptop and began organising my footage into different bins so that it would make the editing process smoother. I grouped all the shots of the phone together in one bin, and the shots of my protagonist waking up in another. I even had another bin for some shots of my protagonist stealing the USB device that I originally thought I might use in the opening scene. When the footage was uploaded to the laptop it was edited on adobe premier pro. The editing process took many hours to identify the relevant parts of the raw footage and to place the shots I wanted to use in order on the timeline. The various steps in relation to my project were recorded at all times on Blogger. 

ALEX: Can you tell us a little more about the benefits of using a digital camera to film?

ELIANA: I’m really glad I used a digital camera for my opening sequence. This had a sim card inserted with considerable memory. As a result, I did not feel limited when I was recording my footage. This flexibility meant that I had considerable options when editing, lots of choices for each potential shot. The digital camera was very lightweight with a zoom lens. This allowed me to hold it and manipulate it easily when filming to take footage of the protagonist from different angles. I could also zoom in and out on her different features. It also had an anti-shake feature that helped stabilize the footage and keep the footage looking steady. In addition, during parts of the footage, I mounted the camera on a tripod to minimize any shaky footage even further. 

ALEX: Can you talk us through the editing process?

ELIANA: Once the footage had been uploaded to adobe premier pro I began the editing post-production process.  Premier pro is a piece of software that allows the editing of media material including film, audio and photos. It allowed me to bring together all of the individual parts of the opening sequence in a way that made the finished product look professional, engaging and exciting. It was possible to make the relevant title cards and idents flow on screen in the same way that they do for a real film, all overlayed with the audio from the ringing phone and the sinister music rising to a crescendo, raising the audience’s blood pressure when the protagonist finally answers the phone. As part of the editing process, each element of the footage was cut, rather than dissolved, to give a slick immediacy to the audience and to reflect the character’s panic. The phone call of the antagonist issuing demands was recorded and edited using Adobe Audition, where I was able to alter various elements to make his voice sound as if it was on the phone.

ALEX: And could you tell us about some of the other software or websites you used during your project?

ELIANA: Spotify was useful for researching different music I potentially wanted to use. I created a playlist of music from existing thriller films, which I have put on my blog. I also used IMP awards, a film poster website, which allowed me to download the appropriate movie posters for the films I was
analysing to my blog. All of this helped me consider which films best reflected the genre I was interested in and assisted the direction of my project. I also used adobe photo shop to create and edit my title cards. You tube was very useful to obtain the idents for my production companies A24, Warner Brothers and Magnolia Pictures, but also to find the opening scenes I wanted to analyse. Finally, I used Blogger to bring together all aspects of this project. I used it to make notes, conduct research and add posters, videos, audio and links all in one place. 

ALEX: Thanks Eliana. ‘Keep’ will be in cinemas at the end of this week.