Fixation Final Version (With Edited Typography)

The typography used for the titles in our previous version of the opening did not seem to blend well with the piece of film itself.
   Although we tried to choose colours that mixed well with others in the shot, the writing itself I feel did not stand out too well and there was a lack of consistency throughout.
   We chose a font that seemed to express the sharp, harmful ways of the stalker and the use of his computer by making it solid and plain, trying to resemble the print of a keyboard or typewriter. The solidarity of it was also used to hint at the logical mind of the stalker and the ways in which he performs his tasks.
   However, the titles still seemed out of place as they stood still against the more shaky, unnerving footage, and seemed to lack personality.
   I decided to create new titles for the piece using LiveType. My aim was to improve the faults that I have already mentioned and make the titles work much better with the piece as a whole.
   To keep a consistency with colours, I used a range of golds so that they would match well with the golds on the clock in the initial shot and with the walls in the others. Because I did not use one solid colour, it made the titles more interesting and less stark against the footage. This factor also helped the titles to stand out against their background where they hadn’t before (such as ‘and Karl Fricker as’ being a dark font blended into the dark background).

   Rather than choosing a very plain font, I decided to use the same one that I had when adding the title to the stalker's book: My Underwood (http://www.fontspace.com/tension-type/my-underwood). This typewriter font I feel portrays the use of the computer more clearly and in a more interesting fashion. A simple font like the one previously used can be drawn on in many situations, our thoughts of such a font are not just confined to a computer but possibly a book, poster or many other forms of publication.
   Also, instead of suggesting the stalkers logical thinking, it takes a different approach and depicts the jumpy eeriness of the situation along with the font’s movement, which I feel relates clearer to the thriller genre. It could also illustrate the disturbing thoughts and ways of the stalker.
   The shaky, unstable movement of the font works much better with the footage compared to the previously very still titles. I feel that it adds more character to the piece and makes it more visually interesting as before it was rather dull.
   I also feel that the movement of the font, and the fact that the whole phrase is not shown right away, keeps the audience focused and adds to the sense of mystery which a thriller should portray.
   By ending the titles with the last one fading away as I am about to walk into it, I feel that the titles ending is much more precise and clear compared to the previous version where you were unsure as whether there were more to come.

Fixation final cut

   This is our final version of our thriller opening. From our rough edit we had to cut down about a minutes worth of footage, which we found very hard to do! We did manage to cut it down to just over 2 minutes though by making scenes shorter where we could and using transitions to enable us to break up scenes and take out parts that weren't really necessary in long shots, blending what was now a split clip together. This also helped to add to the pace, tension and effect of time moving quickly an running out.
   We also tried to make each scene relate better with the music. This was especially current in the scene where the stalker is flipping through the pages of the book moving his hands over the pictures of the girls. We made this scene a lot shorter and had a new transition going onto a new page along with the changing pattern of the music.
   Of corse we then added in the titles and our names and candidate numbers as the film makers, directors  and editors of this piece.