Editing

Editing

Once we had filmed all the appropriate footage, we began editing on Sony Vegas Pro.

First of all, we had to select the appropriate clips and cut them down to the correct length. We then had to make sure that all the clips that were in the present in the narrative were kept in colour. However, some of the clips looked very dark so we edited them in terms of brightness and contrast. Also, we had to change all the clips with Myra watching the child into black and white to create a clear representation that this is in the past, like a flash back. We edited these clips to 100% black and white and also added a slight film effect too. The obvious difference between the colour and black and white clips creates a clear establishment that one is present and one is past. We then put the clips in the order that we wanted and which made the most possible sense.

For the first shot of Lucy on the swing, we altered the playback rate to make it slower which creates an interesting effect for the begging of the opening sequence. A few seconds into this shot we superimposed “A Cookie Monster Production” in the bottom right hand corner of the shot.

The over the shoulder shot of Myra is of her taking a Polaroid picture of Lucy. On this shot we superimposed "Starring Jessica Hutchinson" in white text at the bottom of the shot and used a fade on both its entrance and exit. We used the sound of the camera taking a picture however, when we came to film the camera would not work, but luckily we already had a previous recording of the camera making the appropriate desired sound. We therefore cut the sound from this clip and used it for the one we were using. We had to carefully match up the sound effect with when the camera button was pressed. We also added an effect onto the end of this shot which made the shot brighten and turn to a white screen as it portrays the development of the Polaroid picture. We also added another sound effect of an abrupt strange noise as soon as the shot begins so create an instant creepy and negative view of Myra.

After this we returned to the shot of Lucy swinging on the swing. This was an ideal time to add the next piece of superimposing “April Edwards” again in the bottom of the screen so the focus is still on the action rather than the text. We faded the text and once the text had disappeared we added the section where Lucy disappeared off the swing. We used another shot and spent along time matching them up exactly and then slightly overlaying them so that the disappearance looked authentic. The swing had to be in exactly the same place or else it wouldn’t match and would look out of sync. Once we had got the match as perfect as possible we added a sound effect of a “woosh” sort of noise to emphasise that Lucy has disappeared; she has been taken. Once she had disappeared from the swing the sound of her singing "1,2..." begins and continues throughout the next shots.

Next is the introduction of the brother. We edited three shots together of the same action but from different angles. We had to maintain consistent lighting on these clips so that the change between different angles remained smooth. We overlaid each shot slightly so the movement to the next shot wasn’t sudden. We then superimposed “Oliver Aird”, again in the bottom of the shot.

Throughout the opening sequence we continued to edit each clip in terms of brightness and also by changing relevant clips to black and white.  We also added the appropriate soundtrack throughout (a combination of a music box, lucy singing "1,2 shes coming for you..." and "twinkle twinkle", a heartbeat and a screeching) and used some diagetic sound of the brother shouting "Lucy".  At the end of the opening sequence, we adjusted the playback rate of the gradual zoom out to make is slower like the beginning of te sequence.

Changes

Initial Changes

When we came to film, we could not get hold of an old typewriter as we had planned so we changed the idea of the typewriter to Myra handwriting a plan. We thought this would be more interesting as there is a wider variety of shots we could use for this section and we thought then when editing, we could fade two different angles so the audience could almost see two hands writing. This meant that instead of using a close up of the typed writing on the paper of the typewriter for some of the credits, we would have to superimpose all of them.

As we were filming, we decided that the section where Myra puts the box into the car was confusing and unnecessary so we will replace this section with the new ideas that we came up with when we were filming. In the car section there was a jump shot, so we still wanted to use a jump shot in the replacement. For this, we filmed April skipping in a graveyard, holding the burnt teddy bear and would used the technique of a jump shot to show 3 cuts of her getting further and further away. We filmed the graveyard section a few different ways; one where the camera was behind the metal fence so it was visible in shot which emphasises that Myra is following the child. Another shot was where the camera followed April and another where the camera was stationary as she skipped along the graveyard. We also decided to film running around a large tree, (with the use of a wobbly camera without using a tri-pod to emphasise the following and create suspense) and then zooming in to a close up of the burnt teddy bear hidden in the tree. When we were filming in the attic we thought of another idea. To film a close up of a picture of April but with the lights off so at first, it looks like a black screen, then Myra strikes a match in front of the camera which lights up the picture to reveal the image of the innocent victim.

Also, when we were watching the footage in order that we would use it, we decided that it would be wise to rearrange the order at the end of the sequence. Originally we thought that seeing the box burning and then going back in time to see Myra hanging the girls dress on her wardrobe would be effective, but after we realized that it added extra, unnecessary confusion to the piece. Therefore, we changed it so it carried on in order of chronology, with the wardrobe bit before the box burning.

Major Changes

When we began editing, we immediately noticed that the huge array of different sections in the sequence could be very confusing. Also, that the quick flashes of images and shots cut very short did not achieve the desired effect. Instead of looking mysterious and intriguing, the sequence seemed very confusing and the editing therefore looked like it was rushed and was not portraying what we wanted. After audience feedback, the responses supported our opinion which led us to the decision to simplify the plot of the opening sequence. We wanted to stick with some of the footage so we decided to keep the teddy bear and swing section. We then decided that it would make more sense if the audience saw the girl and her brother during the piece; as it would make it more obvious that she had gone missing and therefore create a high level of emotion within the opening. First of all we made sure that we could find somebody to take part in the opening sequence to play the part of the brother. We asked Olly as he is studying theatre studies so we thought he would be ideal to portray the intense emotion within the piece. Next we planned a new shooting script;

· Long shot of swing with close up of teddy bear in foreground, (same as original but edited so it is in slow motion).

· Over the shoulder shot of Myra taking a Polaroid picture, showing a mid shot of the girl on the swing. In black and white.

· Long shot of swing with close up of half teddy bear in foreground from a low angle (same as in original opening sequence)

· Same shot as previous, but with the girl disappeared from the swing (low angle)

· A variety of different long shots of the girl’s brother in the park devastated that the girl has disappeared.

· A variety of close ups of the brothers face to show his emotion.

· From then, we will use black and white shots to show Myra watching the child in the past and colour shots to show the brothers devastation in the present.

· Black and white over the shoulder shot of Myra, showing a long shot of the girl swinging.

·A point of view shot from the brothers perspective to show his frantic state.

·A close up of the brothers eyes which changes to a close up of Myras eyes when he blinks.

·A long shot of the girl swinging which is obstructed by a close up of the foreground of leaves to show that she is hidden.

· A mid shot from a high angle of the brother in a heap on the ground shouting up to the Camera.

· Panning from the brother holding his head in his hands to show the burnt teddy bear on the ground.

· A shot from over his shoulder to show him picking up the burnt teddy bear.

· A gradual zoom out from the long shot of the brother on the floor in the park to reveal the girls dress hanging in a bush and the developed Polaroid picture which has been burning hanging in front of the dress.

The simplistic plot enables the audience to understand clearer that a child has been snatched. Although the piece won’t be jumpy as we had planned, the zoom out at the end with the girls dress lying on the ground still demonstrates the psychopathic ways of Myra. This synopsis keeps Myra more of a mystery which intrigues the audience after the opening sequence to continue to watch the film as they are desperate to know what will happen to the girl. We will not need to record and additional sound as we already have the sufficient recordings but we will have to go back to the same location of the park to film more footage. Also, the fact that the sequence takes place in the same location makes it less confusing and therefore easier for the audience to follow. If we had stuck with our original idea, the audience would be completely confused by the end of the opening sequence, which initially we thought would intrigue them. But after audience feedback, we understood that the level of confusing elements would do the opposite as they learn so much throughout the opening sequence they would not be intrigued to watch the rest as they feel it would be boring, knowing the amount they do already about the piece.

In the original piece we didn't have any dialogue but we decided that there should be some shouting from the brother to create a level of worry and create tension. Therefore we needed to give the little girl a character name. We decided upon the name "Lucy". We also decided that the title for the piece was too simplistic and boring, so instead of using the title of Myra, we decided on a more interesting title of "Innocence".

Filming Our Final Piece

Once we had planned our piece fully and we all knew exactly what we had to do to create a successful media piece, we began the filming process.

Preparation

For our initial preparation, we needed to collect all the props and costumes that we already had and then we wrote a list of the extra items that we didn’t have but needed to get. This meant that we had to buy some primary objects which would help us to set up the location for the filming; in the attic. For this, we had to buy ingredients to create the fake blood, blu-tack to stick up the newspaper cuttings to a wardrobe in the attic and matches which would be used for a prop in one of the scenes.

Once we had all the items we needed, we began preparing the attic. Firstly, we stuck up the many newspaper cuttings we had cut previously all over the wardrobe. Hannah and Jess then collected April, who played the child in the piece so she was ready to film. April brought with her a selection of clothes so we could change her if appropriate and also so we could use some of the clothes for props in the piece.

Once April was back at the house, we took her up to the attic and took a few pictures of her in the wardrobe. We then had to set up the child’s blanket and fairy lights on the floor and took additional photographs of her. After we had taken the photographs, we had to size them correctly on the computer and print them off, ensuring that there was enough space to cut around them. We left space at the bottom of the photographs when printing them off so they would look like they were pictures taken from the Polaroid camera which will be used in the piece. Once the pictures looked like authentic Polaroid pictures, we stuck them on some of the wooden panes in the attic.

After this, we made the blood which would be used in our piece. We got a recipe to make fake blood which made authentic blood! Firstly we used a few packets of angel delight mix, mixed with water and added red food colouring. To improve the texture we added some strawberry sauce. We thought that it looked too red, so we added some brown sauce into the mix to make it look more realistic. Once it was made, we left it to set a little until we were ready to use the blood later in filming. After we had done this, we were fully prepared and could go ahead with the filming.

Filming

The first part we filmed was the footage we needed to get from

the park. We had to film this section first because of the unpredictability of the weather! Fortunately, it was sunny and bright so it was an ideal time to film the section of the piece with the swing. For this section we filmed April swinging on a swing, with a teddy bear burning in the foreground. We positioned the camera steadily on the ground so we had the desired view of the teddy bear in the shot. However, the burning of the teddy encountered some problems! We thought that the teddy would be easy to burn using matches, but when the match was lit and touching the teddy bear it only created a tiny mark, which is ineffective. Then when we eventually got the match to start lighting the teddy, the wind affected the powerfulness of the flame! So after a team effort of all holding matches and trying to light the teddy, it began

to burn. As soon as the teddy was slightly alight, we began filming the burning and the laughing of the child. Once we felt we had enough material for an appropriate shot, Hannah had to quickly help April off the swing and push it so it swung by itself. We left the camera running throughout this whole process so we can plenty of film, so we could cut and edit the appropriate sections which we could choose from a variety. After we had stopped filming, we put out the flames of the teddy bear and carried it with us for use with later filming.

Planning for our final piece

After we had decided to base our piece upon Myra Hindley, we came up with an idea of what the plot could be based upon.

Synopsis

The piece is based around Myra Hindley and is set in a situation when Hindley is planning and committing a child murder. The piece is set in 1960’s, the time when the Moors Murders took place. Throughout the piece we will follow ideas of Fritz Lang where Myra is never seen fully, only shadows and close ups of certain parts of her body, so her true identity remains a mystery to the audience throughout the whole opening sequence. The beginning is Myra planning the murder, frantically writing notes and showing the sickening paper cuttings she has placed as a focal point in her attic. The piece then moves a little in narrative where Myra is watching a little girl on a swing, swinging happily with her teddy bear which Myra burns; this is clearly Myra’s next innocent victim. The girl is then taken by Myra as the audience as shown pictures of the little girl and she is forced to lie down on a blanket and Myra undresses her and then sexually assaults the child. The child is then killed by Myra, and she is relaxed as she washes the blood from her hands. Then Myra puts the dead body into a cardboard box and takes the box to a field where she burns the box and then buries the remains. The opening sequences end in a cliff hanger and the audience will be left on the edge of their seats to what happens Myra.

This was our first idea into the Myra Hindley plot, but everyone in our group was really enthusiastic about the idea so we stuck with the oringinal idea and continued with the planning stage.

After we had thought of the basic plot and planned our synopsis, we brainstormed a selection of different shots and elements that we wanted to include in our piece.

After we had thought about all the shots we needed we wrote a shooting script of all the shots we needed to film and all the sounds we needed to record to put over the fillm when editing it in the later stages of production.

Shooting script

Shots
· Mid shot of typewriter
· Close up of Myra’s hands typing
· Over the shoulder shot of Myra taking the paper out of the typewriter
· Close up of words on the paper (credits)
· Close up of “Myra” film title superimposed
· Mid shot of Myra pinning the paper on the wardrobe
· Close up of paper cuttings
· Panning along all pictures and tilting to see all (close ups)
· Close up of the Myra’s lips smoking
· Close up of a paper cutting of a childs face
· Mid shot of clock
· Long shot of swing with close up of half teddy bear in foreground (low angle)
· Same shot as previous, but with the girl disappeared from the swing (low angle)
· Close up of the child’s face looking sad· Mid shot, high angle of child lying on blanket
· Close up of paper cutting of a baby
· Mid shot of Myra washing blood off her hands
· Close up of plughole with blood
· Close up of newspaper cutting of words
· Long shot of Myra walking across drive
· Jump shot to a mid shot of Myra next to the car
· Close up of the boot slamming
· Long shot of box through a close up of the spade handle
· Zooming through to a close up of box
· Long shot of Myra walking towards wardrobe
· Mid shot of items on the blanket
· Close up of burning box
· Zooming out to long shot of burning box
· Over the shoulder shot of Myra walking towards the box with the spade
· A rear view shot of Myra walking with spade
· Close up of ash, remains of the box
· Mid shot of burnt teddy bear with “burnt to death” paper cutting
· Close up of jack in a box from a very low angle
· Crackly film

Sounds
· Typewriter
· Child singing “1, 2 she’s coming for you...”
· Ticking of clock
· Whirling, mysterious sound
· Birds tweeting
· Girl laughing· Fire burning and crackling
· Girl singing Twinkle twinkle with crying in the middle and Myra mocking her
· Running water
· Sink clogging· Creepy music
· Myra laughing
· Jack in a box sound

Story-boarding

Once we had thought of all the shots, we drew up a storyboard to put all our ideas onto paper so it is easier to read and therefore easier for us when we come to filming;

For the first few shot we decided to use a mid shot of the typewriter and a close up of Myra’s hands typing. This insinuates immediately that she is frantically typing and planning something. As the audience will not know exactly what she is typing, it captures them as they are inclined to watch the sequence. Over these shots, the sound is of the typewriter loudly and quickly clicking, which adds immediate suspense for the audience.

After this, an over the shoulder shot to introduce the focal character, even though the audience will only see the back of her head, adding a level of mystery. Through the first shots we will use this time to show the opening credits typed on the typewriter. Also, this opportunity will be used to superimpose the title of “MYRA” in a typewriter style font. The typewriter sound carries on until the title appears, where the sound changes suddenly to the 'Freddy song' sung by a young girl. This sound is creepy, and draws the audience in further.

The freddie song continues throughout as the audience see a long shot of the woman pinning cuttings on to the wardrobe. This lets the audience understand that the woman is a odd and mysterious, creepy and has psychopathic ways. The camera then pans along a variety of the cuttings which includes the audience in the piece and gives them more information about the character of Myra.

After this, the audience see another feature of Myra; her lips. For this shot, we will edit it so that it is black and white apart from the lips which will be red. We will also reverse the shot too, as the woman is smoking and we thought that the smoke going into her mouth backwards would be an interesting idea. Following this there will be a quick flash image which introduces the girl, but not in an obvious way.

The next shot is a steady mid shot of a clock. The shot will be speeded up a lot so that it gives the audience a sense that the narrative time within the sequence is passing. Over this shot we will add a sound effect which emphasises the speed that the clock is moving. The audience are then introduced more clearly to the victim; the little girl swinging on a swing. This is a long shot, with a close up of a burning teddy bear in the foreground. In this we hear the little girl laughing and birds tweeting which contrasts with the darkness of what is to happen.

The audience then see the same shot, but with the teddy bear burnt more and the little girl disappeared from the swing. This gives the them the idea that the girl has been taken and that she will disappear, because Myra will do something to her. To make this eerie, you will just hear the sound of fire crackling away at the bear. Following this the audience will see a close up of the girl looking sad from a high angle, which makes her look innocent and like a victim. When this shot appears, the nursery rhyme "twinkle twinkle" begins with the little girl singing it, and crying in the middle.

The next shot is a mid shot of the little girl lying face down on the blanket with her dress open at the back, where the audience can make an assumption that the child will, or already has been sexually assaulted. Then another quick flash appears of a baby’s face which insinuates the level of Myra’s sickness if she will harm a child, let alone a young baby. Throughout this, twinkle twinkle continues to be heard as it fades when the baby’s face is viewed.

The time then cuts to a mid shot of the sink, with a knife covered in blood on the side, where Myra is washing blood off her hands. During this shot the diagetic sound of the water running will be used. After this, a close up of the plug hole with the blood running down will be used where the shot is black and white with the blood emphasised through red. Then we will zoom in further to an extreme close up of the plug hole. The sound will be of the sink clogging during the close up and zoom to extreme close up.

After this, another quick flash of a newspaper cutting will be seen; this time of a word rather than an image. This is when twinkle twinkle fades back in. The scene then cuts to outside where Myra is walking along a drive with a box in her hand towards a car, from a long shot view.

Then the same scene outside near the car is established further through a mid shot of the woman using the technique of jump shot where she then appears closer to the car. The use of the jump shot insinuates that Myra is very fast, physically and in terms of intelligence with the murder. After this, there is a close up of Myra slamming the boot, with the box inside. Throughout all of this, twinkle twinkle continues to play.

The scene then changes again to a field where the audience are introduced to an interesting shot. It is of a long shot of the box, with a limp arm hanging out, through the handle of a spade which appears as a close up. The use of a zoom is used to establish what the arm is and to make it clear that the girl is dead in the box. During this section a creepy soundtrack will be added to create tension.

The narrative time then changes and goes back in time; where Myra is hanging up the girl’s familiar purple dress on her wardrobe. This is a long shot of her from behind, which keeps the idea of mystery as the audience does not see her face even now. After there is a mid shot of the child’s blanket with various disturbing props on like a vodka bottle and pills which emphasises Myra’s odd nature. A combination of panning and zooming out will be used so all the props can be seen. Throughout this, the sound of the nursery rhyme is played again.

The time changes again, moving forward in time to just after the audience saw the box with the limp arm. The close up of the box burning is used which zooms out to a long shot of the box. During this we hear a burning sound with the creepy music heard slightly quietly in the background. An over the shoulder shot is used to show Myra walking towards the box and then a mid shot into a long shot shows that she has a spade over her shoulder and intends to bury the remains of the box and the child. After this, the eerie shot of an extreme close up of the ash into a mid shot of the burnt teddy bear with a newspaper cutting on it which says “burnt to death”. Throughout the eerie shots, the audience will hear Myra laughing.

The final shot is a close up of a jack in a box popping up from a low angle. The creepy jack in a box sound will be used to reveal Myra’s evil personality; showing how she is superior to the victim as she managed to kill her for pleasure. This then cuts suddenly to a fuzzy, crackly film with the crackling sound.

Props and Costume List

Props
· Typewriter
· Clock· Childs blanket
· Heart lights
· Images of children
· Newspaper cuttings
· Spade· Pills
· Fake Blood
· Knife
· Teddy bear
· Jack in a box
· Matches
· Blue tack
· Children’s clothes
· Wardrobe
· Hangers
· Bottle of vodka
· Polaroid camera
· Polaroid photographs
· Cigarette

Costume
Myra
· Red Lipstick
· Red Nail varnish· Black Heels
· Black dress
Child
Pretty children’s dress
Warm winter coat
Dolly shoes

Location Report and Risk Assessment

We decided to base the parts of the piece when Myra is planning the murder and when she has the little girl in Jess’s attic. The attic has a creepy feel and is very basic which we thought would be ideal for the filming of this section of the piece. The lighting is very dark which creates a level of mystery, so to add to the piece we used additional lighting from a lamp to place emphasis on certain sections, but to keep the feel of mystery and tension through the dark lighting which was natural in the attic.

The swing section was obviously based in a park, because it has a swing! Also because lots of children play by themselves in a park so it was a realistic situation of where a child could get ‘kidnapped’ from. The park was near houses so we would be able to get assistance if anything went terribly wrong with the burning of the teddy bear.

We used a piece of field in the back of our school for the field parts initially because there is a large tree which again, looks quite creepy. Also, as we had to burn the box, we didn’t want to be in an unknown empty field where there would be no help if anything went wrong with burning the box.

We had to get permission to film April and further permission to film her for a whole day of filming. Once we had got permission, we would take extra care of her as she would be in our supervision. We will try and shoot the shots which need the child character in first so that April could get home as quick as possible. Apart from the shot which requires the teddy bear to be burning, we intend to film all the shots which have potentially dangerous elements when April is not there because we wouldn’t want to cause her any harm, for example, the shots with matches and the knife in.

Character Representation

Myra
To create a representation of Myra, we will use a variety of shots which will cleverly hide the identity of the character. The audience will only see her on shadow or through close ups of various different parts of her body or shots of her back. This creates the representation that she is mysterious and possibly a dangerous woman from the beginning. The way which we dress her in complete black adds another level of mystery and unknown to her personality. The audience will never hear her talking naturally, only her evil laughter and her mocking the child, emphasising her psychotic state. The disturbing things Myra does in the sequence will establish the character as evil.

Child
The representation of the child we intend to achieve is that of an innocent child victim. The child will be seen happy initially and then the audience can see her change I personality once Myra has taken her. The child will be laughing at the beginning to show her initial happiness and crying towards the end to emphasise the change. We will dress the young girl in a cute dress to make her look innocent and extremely child like.