Analysis of the original and our own remake of Collateral - Majeda

Our remake of Collateral was well produced considering the fact that we had a limited amount of time. This was due to not enough extras, lighting and the setting. However, we were able to get a good 16 seconds in the end. We had shot this footage several times. One, being outside and one being indoors but the setting and lighting were not complimentary towards each other as it had been getting dark outside and characters were not seen. We had incorporated the out of focus effect as this was present in the original Collateral, but used slightly. However looking back at our shots, we had also found out that our shots were too out of focus. Therefore, we decided it would be convenient to re-shoot this opening indoors with more extras.

The use of Mise En Scene in our remake was used correctly. The props we had used that were seen in the original were sunglasses and a bag. Tom Cruise was the main character in Collateral and was known to be wearing sunglasses so we incorporated this in our remake and one of our group member was wearing sunglasses too. This would make the audience aware and not feel confused as to who the main character is.

The camera shots that we produced were similar to the original video in terms of framing. We had made sure the main character and the extras were positioned well whilst filming. I mentioned above how we wanted to re-create the out of focus feature as seen in the original video. We were not able to adjust it well therefore we ended up not inputting this in our re-make. However, this was a learning process and hopefully next time we are able to address to this.

Finally, we came to the editing process where we used Final Cut. Using this, we were able to fit all of our shots together, so it made sense and was story-like. This also gave us an opportunity to experiment with Final Cut for the future and for our opening of a thriller. We used one or two effects that did no make a big difference but it was good a beginner.

Overall, I feel positive towards the outcome of the remake of Collateral. İt has made me feel confident in terms of using the camera and Final Cut. I would be able to do this again and address to the things that could have been improved such as the adjustment of the focus, being more prepared and organised and aware of the time scale we have. These things are minor things that myself and as a group can definitely improve on.

Below are a couple screen shots and images of myself and group members using Final Cut and editing our remake.