Targets the correct audience- through use of young actors. Fast pace editing etc.
Story line targets a slightly wider audience as it is more complex than most horrors.
Too female orientated, and if had the chance would need to add in male actor(s) as it may appear to be a chick flick which wouldn't appeal to men.
The narrative is slightly confusing and hard to follow.
Bits of filming are too dark-(which we did realise, and if had the chance would refilm bits with better lighting)
The end is unexpected, creates a narrative enigma.
Liked Point of View shot creates tension, effective.
Good framing in point of view shot behind tree.
Slow motion effect, good conventional connotation, makes it seem like being watched.
The silence outside made it more effective, more creepy and isolated, and can hear the footsteps clearly.
The background noise outside of wind gets annoying, makes less effective.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Sound and Music (Planning work from March)
Some of the Copywrite free music sites we found were:
-www.akmmusic.co.uk
-www.freeplaymusic.com
-www.trackline.com
-www.derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/music
-audio.lgfl.org.uk
Most of these sites specialised in sound effects, which was mainly what we were looking for anyway.
For our final cut we needed a heartbeat sound effect for the blackout to build up tension and dramatic effect. We had many heartbeats to choose from but we chose the loudest most dramatic, at quiet a fast pace, to suit the genre.
We also contemplated using a heavy breathing sound effect through parts but then decided against last minute, as we tried doing it ourselves but the sound wasn't very effective or as loud as we wanted.
The other sound we used was the bit to the opening scene of the house- the eery music, we felt it created the dream like state we were looking for, aswell as connoting the genre of the film. None of the music was aimed at a target audience, although we felt it would appeal to both male and females.
We also felt we didn't need any music throughout the outside bit of the opening, and were told in audience feedback that the silence was very effective and created tension as you could hear the footsteps of the girl clearly, and it made it seem more creepy and isolated.
Also we were criticised in feedback that the clips outside were catching sound from the wind, which got annoying to watch and didn't make build up the dramatic effect as wanted.
We created the eery music at the beginning on garageband, which was easy to transfer onto Imovie. The heartbeat we got off a copywrite free site.
-www.akmmusic.co.uk
-www.freeplaymusic.com
-www.trackline.com
-www.derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/music
-audio.lgfl.org.uk
Most of these sites specialised in sound effects, which was mainly what we were looking for anyway.
For our final cut we needed a heartbeat sound effect for the blackout to build up tension and dramatic effect. We had many heartbeats to choose from but we chose the loudest most dramatic, at quiet a fast pace, to suit the genre.
We also contemplated using a heavy breathing sound effect through parts but then decided against last minute, as we tried doing it ourselves but the sound wasn't very effective or as loud as we wanted.
The other sound we used was the bit to the opening scene of the house- the eery music, we felt it created the dream like state we were looking for, aswell as connoting the genre of the film. None of the music was aimed at a target audience, although we felt it would appeal to both male and females.
We also felt we didn't need any music throughout the outside bit of the opening, and were told in audience feedback that the silence was very effective and created tension as you could hear the footsteps of the girl clearly, and it made it seem more creepy and isolated.
Also we were criticised in feedback that the clips outside were catching sound from the wind, which got annoying to watch and didn't make build up the dramatic effect as wanted.
We created the eery music at the beginning on garageband, which was easy to transfer onto Imovie. The heartbeat we got off a copywrite free site.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Evalation
Our media product mostly uses common forms and conventions of real media products as the music shortens intake of breath, because of the very high notes, and creates an irregular heartbeat.
Then one very common convention of horror/slashers is a canted, dutch angle to signify that something bad is going to happen, also the shot of the front of the house is very common. Mostly to create a claustraphobic effect, which i feel ours does because of the trees around the house etc.
This example is from Bride of Chucky (Ronnie Yu 1998) Which is a film which heavily uses a dutch angle throughout.
Most horror films start with a slow opening shot, which ours does, the pace of the shots slowly get faster towards the end of our 2 minutes, to create a build up of tension.
The heavy use of P.O.V shot from the killer is also a common convention we decided to use in ours, we thought that worked really well and thought would create a narrative enigma.
Using the knife was also a popular thing to do in horror films, as using a household object as a killing weapon was heavily used in the friday 13th sequels as they got the idea from Argentino's flair. A kitchen knife is also seen in the opening two minutes of Scream, and again in the still below.
We did challenge the codes and conventions by using both brown haired girls, the main protagonist though is the final girl, which means it is common and not unusual for her to be a brunette, although the other protagonist girl who is overly girly would stereotypically be a blonde, but we decided to make her into a countertype, so our film was abit different. We made her girly and wear revealing clothes and alot of make up so the audience would feel like she 'deserved' to die as she is made out to be sexually available, which is thought of as a sin so they should die for it.
We also challenge common conventions as you only really find out there is someone there, the 'killer' at 1 min 15 sec. so we have created a dramatic build up, waiting for the killers presence.
My media product represents particular social groups such as a 'youth' audience, which is reflected in the cast, as they are all teenagers, which is also very common in horrors. It also appeals to teenagers because of the costume choices of the characters, and the fact they are wearing make up etc.
And from our audience feedback we were told the young actors, fast pace editing and storyline attracts the young audience we wanted it to.
The psychographic profile target audience would be mostly people who watch slightly supernatural things on TV such as star trek...or other films like nightmare on elm st.
The type of media institution that would distribute our film would be quite an unknown distributor as this is our first production, so they wouldn't invest too much money into it, and also it would have to be a company that has previously worked with horror films and knows how to advertise them etc. WT2 or WarpX would be the perfect advertisers, especially WarpX as it has done
films like Donkey punch before, which was a popular hit in the UK.
The audience for our media product would be- middle class, lower middle class and working class -C2DE. Mainly because it has no famous names in it to attract a wider target audience, but this is common in horror films as they are usually low budget in comparison to other genres of film. I feel it could highly appeal to girls because of the main protagonist being a strong independant woman, which is an inspiration for them, and would also be a huge hit for teenagers as it is mainly that age group reflected in the film, and they also tend to enjoy fast pace films such as horrors.
The age range we have targetted is from 15-25.
As the storyline as said through feedback is complex and would also attract a slightly maturer age group.
I also feel we have targetted a very northern audience mainly. As it has a yorkshire feel to it as a film, because of the accents, and the rural landscape outside.
Although as we found out from our audience feedback, there are no men in the opening scenes which means one will probably not end up being a key character, mainly female orientated. Which may not mean it would appeal as much to males as they may mistake it for a 'chick flick'.
We would attract/address our audience by advertising on the internet perhaps, and through text and posters like how Donkey Punch was advertised. Film festivals in the local areas would also attract attention. Perhaps comparing it to other well known, popular horrors would attract the audience- for example saying it is like a mix of Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street would get peoples attention. I feel we would highly rely on word of mouth for the distribution of advertisment as we would not have the money to invest into it incase it wasn't popular.
The things which i have learnt about the new technologies from the process of constructing my product would be mostly Imovie 06 which was very easy to pick up on what to do for beginners and to put transitions in etc. I learnt how to change the pitch of sound effects added, for example when we added a heartbeat sound effect we lowered the pitch at the start and heightened it at the end to make it more dramatic, which i thought was a good aspect to the software. Although we did find it difficult to find good visual effects and audio on the Imovie programme, which is why we also used garageband. I learnt alot from that also as i had never used it before and it was extremely easy to create your own music on it, elongate notes for a shortness of breath, fast pace to create an irregular heartbeat, etc. I found it fun to experiment with the different types of music we could have used to make our product most effective.
The actual camera was very easy to use, we liked the nightvision as it created the perfect effect we needed for the dream effect, slightly blurry like in a state of unconcious. Although if we were to want a better lighting effect outside in the dark it would have been very difficult on a small budget to create good quality clips with nightvision- which we would have needed later on in the film when it is reality.
The things i have learnt from our preliminary task were, that planning is totally essential, and without it everything goes wrong, in our prelim we rushed everything and didnt really plan, we just filmed as we went along. This caused alot of problems when trying to put it all together in the end, as the clips didn't seem to flow and lacked continuity. Which meant when we came to our real product we spent alot of time planning and took all the shots more than once to make sure we had choice. Continuity was also no problem in the final product as we thought through what would have to come after and we thought it ended up realistic.
Apart from the part in the hallway where it goes from the girl talking to then her by the door putting her coat on, this lacked continuity but simply because we had shot a clip to go inbetween of the mother speaking but it was too long and confusing, and we couldn't cut it down effectively without making it look stupid so we left it out.
The prelim task also helped us think about how to make lighting effective, as we came across some shots in it where the lighting made the shots look bad quality or shadowed the character when it shouldn't have.
We also learnt that the stereotypical aspects to the characters worked well, we tried to add that into our final piece but give it abit of a twist with brown hair.
Doing the prelim made using the camera, and software like Imovie 06 much simpler and meant we could do the editing and filming alot quicker than if we hadn't had any practice.
I also felt that the prelim made us realise that each shot had to have meaning, and we couldn't simply add a shot in for the sake of it, which was an aspect we took into great consideration and thought through each shot for a long time as a group and went through the strengths and weaknesses of it.
The match on action in our prelim we also found very difficult to grasp, and however long we tried we couldn't get it right, so we all discussed how to make the match on action look effective and in the end it looked very effective and continuous.
We also learnt how to signify the genre of the film through shots. Generally i feel that in the long run we have come a long way as a group and learnt alot, and found it all a very enjoyable experience.
Then one very common convention of horror/slashers is a canted, dutch angle to signify that something bad is going to happen, also the shot of the front of the house is very common. Mostly to create a claustraphobic effect, which i feel ours does because of the trees around the house etc.
This example is from Bride of Chucky (Ronnie Yu 1998) Which is a film which heavily uses a dutch angle throughout.
Most horror films start with a slow opening shot, which ours does, the pace of the shots slowly get faster towards the end of our 2 minutes, to create a build up of tension.
The heavy use of P.O.V shot from the killer is also a common convention we decided to use in ours, we thought that worked really well and thought would create a narrative enigma.
Using the knife was also a popular thing to do in horror films, as using a household object as a killing weapon was heavily used in the friday 13th sequels as they got the idea from Argentino's flair. A kitchen knife is also seen in the opening two minutes of Scream, and again in the still below.
We did challenge the codes and conventions by using both brown haired girls, the main protagonist though is the final girl, which means it is common and not unusual for her to be a brunette, although the other protagonist girl who is overly girly would stereotypically be a blonde, but we decided to make her into a countertype, so our film was abit different. We made her girly and wear revealing clothes and alot of make up so the audience would feel like she 'deserved' to die as she is made out to be sexually available, which is thought of as a sin so they should die for it.
We also challenge common conventions as you only really find out there is someone there, the 'killer' at 1 min 15 sec. so we have created a dramatic build up, waiting for the killers presence.
My media product represents particular social groups such as a 'youth' audience, which is reflected in the cast, as they are all teenagers, which is also very common in horrors. It also appeals to teenagers because of the costume choices of the characters, and the fact they are wearing make up etc.
And from our audience feedback we were told the young actors, fast pace editing and storyline attracts the young audience we wanted it to.
The psychographic profile target audience would be mostly people who watch slightly supernatural things on TV such as star trek...or other films like nightmare on elm st.
The type of media institution that would distribute our film would be quite an unknown distributor as this is our first production, so they wouldn't invest too much money into it, and also it would have to be a company that has previously worked with horror films and knows how to advertise them etc. WT2 or WarpX would be the perfect advertisers, especially WarpX as it has done
films like Donkey punch before, which was a popular hit in the UK.
The audience for our media product would be- middle class, lower middle class and working class -C2DE. Mainly because it has no famous names in it to attract a wider target audience, but this is common in horror films as they are usually low budget in comparison to other genres of film. I feel it could highly appeal to girls because of the main protagonist being a strong independant woman, which is an inspiration for them, and would also be a huge hit for teenagers as it is mainly that age group reflected in the film, and they also tend to enjoy fast pace films such as horrors.
The age range we have targetted is from 15-25.
As the storyline as said through feedback is complex and would also attract a slightly maturer age group.I also feel we have targetted a very northern audience mainly. As it has a yorkshire feel to it as a film, because of the accents, and the rural landscape outside.
Although as we found out from our audience feedback, there are no men in the opening scenes which means one will probably not end up being a key character, mainly female orientated. Which may not mean it would appeal as much to males as they may mistake it for a 'chick flick'.
We would attract/address our audience by advertising on the internet perhaps, and through text and posters like how Donkey Punch was advertised. Film festivals in the local areas would also attract attention. Perhaps comparing it to other well known, popular horrors would attract the audience- for example saying it is like a mix of Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street would get peoples attention. I feel we would highly rely on word of mouth for the distribution of advertisment as we would not have the money to invest into it incase it wasn't popular.
The things which i have learnt about the new technologies from the process of constructing my product would be mostly Imovie 06 which was very easy to pick up on what to do for beginners and to put transitions in etc. I learnt how to change the pitch of sound effects added, for example when we added a heartbeat sound effect we lowered the pitch at the start and heightened it at the end to make it more dramatic, which i thought was a good aspect to the software. Although we did find it difficult to find good visual effects and audio on the Imovie programme, which is why we also used garageband. I learnt alot from that also as i had never used it before and it was extremely easy to create your own music on it, elongate notes for a shortness of breath, fast pace to create an irregular heartbeat, etc. I found it fun to experiment with the different types of music we could have used to make our product most effective.
The actual camera was very easy to use, we liked the nightvision as it created the perfect effect we needed for the dream effect, slightly blurry like in a state of unconcious. Although if we were to want a better lighting effect outside in the dark it would have been very difficult on a small budget to create good quality clips with nightvision- which we would have needed later on in the film when it is reality.
The things i have learnt from our preliminary task were, that planning is totally essential, and without it everything goes wrong, in our prelim we rushed everything and didnt really plan, we just filmed as we went along. This caused alot of problems when trying to put it all together in the end, as the clips didn't seem to flow and lacked continuity. Which meant when we came to our real product we spent alot of time planning and took all the shots more than once to make sure we had choice. Continuity was also no problem in the final product as we thought through what would have to come after and we thought it ended up realistic.
Apart from the part in the hallway where it goes from the girl talking to then her by the door putting her coat on, this lacked continuity but simply because we had shot a clip to go inbetween of the mother speaking but it was too long and confusing, and we couldn't cut it down effectively without making it look stupid so we left it out.
The prelim task also helped us think about how to make lighting effective, as we came across some shots in it where the lighting made the shots look bad quality or shadowed the character when it shouldn't have.
We also learnt that the stereotypical aspects to the characters worked well, we tried to add that into our final piece but give it abit of a twist with brown hair.
Doing the prelim made using the camera, and software like Imovie 06 much simpler and meant we could do the editing and filming alot quicker than if we hadn't had any practice.
I also felt that the prelim made us realise that each shot had to have meaning, and we couldn't simply add a shot in for the sake of it, which was an aspect we took into great consideration and thought through each shot for a long time as a group and went through the strengths and weaknesses of it.
The match on action in our prelim we also found very difficult to grasp, and however long we tried we couldn't get it right, so we all discussed how to make the match on action look effective and in the end it looked very effective and continuous.
We also learnt how to signify the genre of the film through shots. Generally i feel that in the long run we have come a long way as a group and learnt alot, and found it all a very enjoyable experience.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Genre research and Intertextual Links (Planning work from March)
There are many things i found from book research to try and link in with our own film opening.
-first person point of view shot featured heavily in halloween- something we decided to add to ours, to give the impression someone in being watched, and to create tension.
-the presentation of images of sex and death remain the primary function of slasher movies, which we also tried to show in the first 2 minutes, to signify the genre.
-Prom night use the hand-and-glove shots that indicate the killers presence in the opening scenes of several gialli. We decided to feature this shot in our own opening, linking to other well known horror films.
-Halloween has many references to Argentino's films- the continuous point of view shot, and the contrast between moonlit blue and the yellow glow from the artifical outside light- another aspect which we added to our own opening, creating a postmodern effect, and appealing to a wider audience.
-Friday 13th sequels appropriated Argentino's flair for using everday household objects as murder weapons- this is something else we link to with the mother walking into the room holding a kitchen knife offering cake.
-Black christmas is another film which relies heavily on point of view shots, which helped us out with how to make it look effective.
-In slasher movies the killer always ( or at least appears to be ) alone to create good suspense. Which is what we tried to do.
-Traditional haunted house/ demonic posession affairs such as poltergeist used, often to bring the heroine against antagonists from another dimension, in our case the world of dreams.
-Horror films are mostly focused on groups of teens for the victims.
-Nightmare on elm street- significant horror decade, the origin of this film lies in newspaper articles that caught the director Cravens eye. It was about a series of bizarre deaths. Victims had claimed to be suffering from intensly terrifying dreams, fearing their lives refused to go back to sleep. And when they did, they died in their sleep.
This links in heavily with the ideas of our film, which again creates a post modern effect of our film.
-Modern horror has come to rely so heavily upon the idea of a teenage heroine, hence the reason we used a young teenage girl as our heroine. Carol Clover in her book 'men, women and chainsaws' calls it a 'final girl' - a hero in the masculine mode, despite being female. All final girls share some basic characteristics - intelligent, smart and resourceful. We tried to show this with our final girl.
-The aspects of the films that stick in the audiences mind are invariably the weapons and equipment used by the relevant psychopath- which is one of the reasons we brought the household knife weapon into show so early, a signifier it will be the first weapon used to kill the first victim.
-Killers are mostly always male, and can be divided into 2 categories.
The first being...Evolutionary throwbacks-
somehow 'incomplete' human beings who lack necessary qualities that seperate man from animal. They rarely speak and their movements tend to be uncivilised. For example - Freddy Kruger in Nightmare on Elm Street
The second is 'normal' human murderers-
articulate and agile, and tend to bare no physical disfugurement that could prevent them from mixing with civilised society, which is usually to their greatest advantage as it allows them to avoid detection until last minute. For example - Michael Myres from the film Halloween.
- It is also typical that the killers are 'silent' killers, such as Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers or Freddy Kruger, creating more suspense.-It is usually only in the last 15 minutes of each film that a human face is given to the evil deeds. Keeping the suspense going until the very end.
-The killers are almost exclusively male, Pamela Voorhees from friday 13th is the most famous example of a female killer.
-Killers tend to carry out their murderous designs in urban settings. Which we also used in ours, as it shows a sense of claustraphobia.
-The murderers are often given a background rooted in sex or gender related trauma, making them less normal, and so creates much more tension when you know the person isn't quite normal.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Logo
We decided to make this logo as it appeals to a young audience with the use of slag - 'omg'.the black and red colours make it bold and dramatic, and perhaps depending on the genre parts of the logo could change colour.
Monday, 30 March 2009
Microdrama and Narrative Theory
For this task we had to construct a short video using Todorov's 5-part narrative formula.
Every narrative can be broken down into 3 basic stages: situation, conflict, resolution (or equilibrium, dis-equilibrium)
Our narrative does reflect this, the 5 parts to ours were:
1. State of equilibrium at the outset- A young boy george is getting ready to go on a date with his girlfriend.
2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action-George is found on the date with his girlfriend by 2 other girls he is dating.
3. A recognition that there has been disruption- The 2 other girls confront their best friend about also dating George.
4. An attempt to repair the disruption- The girls decide to get back at George, pay him back for lying to them all.
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium- They all agree to be friends again, and George gets his luck .
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Target Audience
The rating of our film is going to be a 15 because the violence will not be too strong, more realistic than overly gory and bloody. For example strong threat and menace will be used.
Although it will mainly be aimed at the younger part of the 15-25 target age group, as most of the cast in this will be teenagers around the age of 18.
As it is a horror film it will be primarily male-orientated for appeal, although as there are many main female characters which could widen the target audience to females as well, one also being the 'final girl', which women would also find appealing.
The socio-economic grouping which our film would target would be C1C2DE audience as it is a conventional slasher with middle class characters.
The nationality of all characters is British, and the region being English/Yorkshire accents. Which would tap into a UK-wide audience, but would therefore limit the foreign sales, as there is no range to appeal to them. Although we are not being very stereotypical of English people.
This film could also appeal to fans of other horrors as it has many inter textual references to classic, well known horror/slasher films. For example, as i have written in common codes and conventions of film openings it links in with a lot of the film 'scream'
The film has all heterosexual for any romantic aspects, so a typical film. It could attract a partly 'pink pound' audience, because of the strong independent main woman, also the costume we will put the girls in will also gain the 'male gaze' as they will be dressed to look feminine.
Our psycho graphic profile would be a kind of person who tends to enjoy jumpy slashers, with a mysterious enigma where you have to try work out many things within the film, for example all the options of the killer etc. and people who enjoy the tabloids. It will tend to be for a young, although mature audience for example, Students.
I researched the BBFC classification 15 and found these guidelines:
Theme-No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
Language-There may be frequent use of strong language (eg 'fuck'). But the strongest terms (eg 'cunt') will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity-Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex-Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Violence-Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
Imitable Techniques-Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Weapons-Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
Drugs-Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Rough cuts
The first cut we decided not to use as the lighting was different to all the other shots so there was no continuity between this and the next shot.
The next one we decided not to use as the lighting isn't bright enough so it isn't as good quality as it could be, the quality is abit grainy and doesn't work effectively.
This is another shot that is very dark, which makes it bad quality. And the centering of the characters isn't correct, it also moves uneffectively when the mum comes in, it would have been a better shot if the mum could have walked in with the frame still, so that the second girl wasn't cut out of the frame.We decided not to use this shot as it goes alot blurrier than we originally wanted it to, and it was hard to do the hand scene as the girl character was still walking, it was also very dark and hard to see what is going on, so we decided to film that shot again under the street light.
We decided not to use this shot as we didn't feel it was dramatic enough, to create tension. Or perhaps people wouldn't understand what was going on.
We also thought this shot wouldn't work as it went very blurry, and wasn't as effective as other shots similar which were better quality.
The group
We used red as the main colour for the poster, as it is a signifier of blood and horror. Although we could have used blue which is also a common convention in horror films to use the colour blue.We chose a number of three as in our preliminary task there was five of us and we found difficulties in getting the work done as everyone had a different opinion and it was extremely hard to get everyone to have a go with the camera. We all get on very well and find it easy to discuss new ideas or sort out work that has to be done.
Cinematography & Editing
1--
The first shot we used was a canted angle(to show something bad is going to happen)from the front of the house, with a zoom towards the window of the house, giving a preffered reading, that the killer is watching and waiting for the girl to leave the house, which all creats tension within a few seconds.
2--
The next shot is then a high angle from behind the girls watching a film, to make them look vulnerable. Especially when the scary bit of the film comes on screen, the build up to it creates tension and when it happens you see the vulnerability in the killers first victim.
3--
This shot is then a medium shot showing the reactions of the girls, it clearly shows there is one vulnerable one, and the final girl, who is laughing, and blatantly not scared by the horror film, showing she is clearly a strong, powerful character.
The mother then walks through the door with cake and a knife, which is juxtaposed with the main girl saying she wasn't scared, as she then screams when she hears her mum walking through the door in shock. The knife is also a signifier of death and horror, and we got the idea from scream, where drew barrymore the actress picks up a knife, signifying death is soon.
4--
This shot is then an over the shoulder shot of the mother, the knife is also pointed slightly at the killers first victim, only noticeable to some who are watching carefully.
5--
This next shot is then of the main girl running out of the room, away from the screen, showing she is slightly vulnerable.
6--
We then use shot-reverse shot with the mother and main girl, also using the 180 degree rule.
7--
It then moves on to a shot of the girl rushing, putting her coat and shoes on.
8--
we then use match on action with the opening of the door.
9--
The girl then rushes out of the house, the camera is on a slight canted angle showing something bad is about to happen.
10--
The girl then walks away from the screen again, showing vulnerability.
11--
This is then a point of view shot of the killer, from behind a tree, creating tension for the audience.
12--
This is another point of view shot, this time the killer is following the girl, the blurry effect throughout the outside scenes is to signify to the audience that this is a dream, not reality. The girl is 'out of focus' at this point. This is also shot at a slight high angle, suggesting the killer is a male, and to make the girl look in danger, and powerless at this point. The hand then slowly comes into the shot, creating dramatic effect.
13--
This is then a medium shot of the front of the girl, showing her reaction, she turns round to see if anything is there...but it is completely silent, with no-one around.
14--
It then quickly cuts into the girl jolting up in her bed, after the nightmare she had of herself getting stalked. But what she and the audience don't know at this point is that all her dreams then turn into reality later on (linking slightly to nightmare on elm street theme)
The clip of the hand reaching out to the girl we re-shot from a high angle to make her look in danger.
We also edited out a shot of the mum telling the girl to get home safely, as we tried to edit it to make it flow easily but didn't manage to make it effective so cut it out altogether and put a fade in transition to the next shot of the girl leaving the house to show she got from there to the door without us showing it on film.
We also decided to edit the bit of the mum walking through the living room door and add an over the shoulder shot to create a wider range of camera shots used.
We heavily used invisible editing throughout, to make it more realistic, and for the fast pace young audience.
The first shot we used was a canted angle(to show something bad is going to happen)from the front of the house, with a zoom towards the window of the house, giving a preffered reading, that the killer is watching and waiting for the girl to leave the house, which all creats tension within a few seconds.
2--
The next shot is then a high angle from behind the girls watching a film, to make them look vulnerable. Especially when the scary bit of the film comes on screen, the build up to it creates tension and when it happens you see the vulnerability in the killers first victim.
3--
This shot is then a medium shot showing the reactions of the girls, it clearly shows there is one vulnerable one, and the final girl, who is laughing, and blatantly not scared by the horror film, showing she is clearly a strong, powerful character.
The mother then walks through the door with cake and a knife, which is juxtaposed with the main girl saying she wasn't scared, as she then screams when she hears her mum walking through the door in shock. The knife is also a signifier of death and horror, and we got the idea from scream, where drew barrymore the actress picks up a knife, signifying death is soon.
4--
This shot is then an over the shoulder shot of the mother, the knife is also pointed slightly at the killers first victim, only noticeable to some who are watching carefully.
5--
This next shot is then of the main girl running out of the room, away from the screen, showing she is slightly vulnerable.
6--
We then use shot-reverse shot with the mother and main girl, also using the 180 degree rule.
7--
It then moves on to a shot of the girl rushing, putting her coat and shoes on.
8--
we then use match on action with the opening of the door.
9--
The girl then rushes out of the house, the camera is on a slight canted angle showing something bad is about to happen.
10--
The girl then walks away from the screen again, showing vulnerability.
11--
This is then a point of view shot of the killer, from behind a tree, creating tension for the audience.
12--
This is another point of view shot, this time the killer is following the girl, the blurry effect throughout the outside scenes is to signify to the audience that this is a dream, not reality. The girl is 'out of focus' at this point. This is also shot at a slight high angle, suggesting the killer is a male, and to make the girl look in danger, and powerless at this point. The hand then slowly comes into the shot, creating dramatic effect.
13--
This is then a medium shot of the front of the girl, showing her reaction, she turns round to see if anything is there...but it is completely silent, with no-one around.
14--
It then quickly cuts into the girl jolting up in her bed, after the nightmare she had of herself getting stalked. But what she and the audience don't know at this point is that all her dreams then turn into reality later on (linking slightly to nightmare on elm street theme)
The clip of the hand reaching out to the girl we re-shot from a high angle to make her look in danger.
We also edited out a shot of the mum telling the girl to get home safely, as we tried to edit it to make it flow easily but didn't manage to make it effective so cut it out altogether and put a fade in transition to the next shot of the girl leaving the house to show she got from there to the door without us showing it on film.
We also decided to edit the bit of the mum walking through the living room door and add an over the shoulder shot to create a wider range of camera shots used.
We heavily used invisible editing throughout, to make it more realistic, and for the fast pace young audience.
Software
Our group used Imovie 6.0 where we uploaded our clips to, and will now used to edit it, add transitions, sound effects etc.
We had used this software before for our preliminary task, and narrative theory task. Which means we had already had much practice on it, and i knew how to add sound and everything already, as we had also watched some tutorials online to help us out with the basics, and moving on to more complicated aspects. Which makes the process of the final cut much easier and quicker process.
Equipment
We used a Cannon MV920 Digital Video Camera.
Powerful Canon 25x zoom lens
High resolution 800k pixel CCD and DiG!C DV for outstanding image quality
Stylish and compact, designed for simple operation
2.7" Widescreen LCD and Real Widescreen recording for breathtaking playback
Microphone input connection
It had many different settings, the one we mainly used was nightvision- as the character was outside for a large majority of the opening.
We also had to use a tripod called 'Fujifilm Finepix A900' Which helped for the shots we wanted to keep steady, it was easily adjustable for if we wanted high angle/low angle shots quickly and easily.
And we also used a Cannon IXUS 8015 digital camera to take pictures of the location to see if it was a suitable setting.
Powerful Canon 25x zoom lens
High resolution 800k pixel CCD and DiG!C DV for outstanding image quality
Stylish and compact, designed for simple operation
2.7" Widescreen LCD and Real Widescreen recording for breathtaking playback
Microphone input connection
It had many different settings, the one we mainly used was nightvision- as the character was outside for a large majority of the opening.
We also had to use a tripod called 'Fujifilm Finepix A900' Which helped for the shots we wanted to keep steady, it was easily adjustable for if we wanted high angle/low angle shots quickly and easily.
And we also used a Cannon IXUS 8015 digital camera to take pictures of the location to see if it was a suitable setting.
Location, Mise en Scene, Props
We have two locations to choose from, both similar locations although one is much darker and more enclosed, whereas the other option is slightly more open with lighting, which may look better on camera.
The aim of both locations though is for a dark effect, scary and realistic effect, we just need to find the location which looks good without any expensive equipment having to be used.
We are also using the main sitting room of a house, which will be made to look dark, and slightly scary to signify the genre and as they are watching a scary film.
The location we ended up choosing after alot of discussion over the 2, was the one which had more streetlights, as the although the other one was a more claustraphobic, dark rural area to film, it would have been much harder to get the lighting right as there were no streetlights around, and we wouldn't have had the right equipment to create a dark yet good quality clip.
The bedroom used in the last clip is fairly simple and girly, reflecting the personality of the main girl.
The bedroom used in the last clip is fairly simple and girly, reflecting the personality of the main girl.
Casting
Our main girl, is a similar character to the actress in donkey punch Nichola Burley. Who is the final girl, she is the quiet innocent one, who doesn't want to get involved in anything that could lead to something bad happening. She was cautious on the film of going on the boat.
Our 'final girl' is still used for male gaze, but is the more conserved character, which is why we decided to dress her in jeans and a simple top, and put her hair up. This will help make the film appeal to girls as she is an inspiration to women, not embarassing them with the stereotypical nature they are perceiving most females to be.
The other actress in our film, the more flirty girly one would be seen as the scream queen, the one who dies first. As she is dressed in a pink dress, with a little cleavage and make up on, showing she is sexually available, and therefore seen as a sin. So should be the one who dies.
Both our girls are brunettes, which is challenging the usual stereotype of horror film girls, especially the scream queen who dies first.
The mother in the beginning is also a very stereotypical mum, walking in with cake, asking if she wanted a lift home etc. She will appeal to an older audience.
Production schedule
We have given enough time to discuss ideas between us, and thought shots through, and gone into detail with the character types, for example if they are stereotypical or counter types etc.
We have now sorted out the day we will be filming, and thought through how long it should take, we have then left ourselves with around 2 weeks to then cut etc.
Production Plan
Production Plan
Prelim task
Prelim Task Evaluation
The beginning introduces stereotypes and music sets the genre and target audience. We had a German exchange student who was one of our stereotypes, and at first we planned to put her in German clothes and playing stereotypical music, but we soon realised we didn't have the time which we have now learnt from, to plan further in advance and not to leave making the media text too late. We also had another stereotypical northern cleaner.
Planning the scenes before hand through storyboarding helped us a lot, although when it came to producing the match on action it didn't make much sense. So we had to go back and add a clip in so it flowed. We needed the transactions to be clear but subtle.
We also learnt that working in a group of 4 people wasn't as easy as we would have expected because there were so many different ideas and opinions it took double the time, also everyone getting a go at filming was difficult as there wasn't even much to film.
Also we hadn't taken into account the lighting because it put shadows on peoples faces which made it unclear on screen, so now we know to plan out before hand from what angle we film from
Initial group idea
Initial Group Idea -
It begins with an over the shoulder shot of two stereotypical girls, watching a horror film. There are also a few close ups to show how scared they are. After they have watched the film the main protagonist girl has to get home to look after her sister, the mum of the girls house she is at offers to give her a lift home(two shot), but she declines saying it is only 2 minutes away, and she has walked this way many times before in the dark.
She then gets a call from her boyfriend as leaving the house,(there is also blue tinted lighting to signify the genre) but the phone shortly goes dead. She carries on walking home, when someone then starts to watch her. The person then starts following closely behind her (point of view shot of the antagonist following the protagonist) when they then reach out for her shoulder, when she begins to get paranoid and can hear something, quickly turns round and nothing is there.
It then sharply goes to a black screen, where a heartbeat comes in and quickly gets faster. It then cuts to the girl in bed, who then jolts up after a bad dream.
It begins with an over the shoulder shot of two stereotypical girls, watching a horror film. There are also a few close ups to show how scared they are. After they have watched the film the main protagonist girl has to get home to look after her sister, the mum of the girls house she is at offers to give her a lift home(two shot), but she declines saying it is only 2 minutes away, and she has walked this way many times before in the dark.
She then gets a call from her boyfriend as leaving the house,(there is also blue tinted lighting to signify the genre) but the phone shortly goes dead. She carries on walking home, when someone then starts to watch her. The person then starts following closely behind her (point of view shot of the antagonist following the protagonist) when they then reach out for her shoulder, when she begins to get paranoid and can hear something, quickly turns round and nothing is there.
It then sharply goes to a black screen, where a heartbeat comes in and quickly gets faster. It then cuts to the girl in bed, who then jolts up after a bad dream.
My initial group idea
My Initial Idea-
It opens with a blank screen, where a hearbeat then comes in and gets faster, and then a teenage blonde girl jolts up out of bed from a nightmare, with a close up of her face. She then gets out of bed and goes downstairs for a drink, while calling her friend, saying that the horror film they had watched that night had creeped her out, and her friend tells her that nothing like what happens in horror films happens in real life, she then turns the light off and starts going back to bed, as she exits the screen, the focus is then on a dark figure standing at the window. It then sharply cuts, with a sound effect to create tension.
It opens with a blank screen, where a hearbeat then comes in and gets faster, and then a teenage blonde girl jolts up out of bed from a nightmare, with a close up of her face. She then gets out of bed and goes downstairs for a drink, while calling her friend, saying that the horror film they had watched that night had creeped her out, and her friend tells her that nothing like what happens in horror films happens in real life, she then turns the light off and starts going back to bed, as she exits the screen, the focus is then on a dark figure standing at the window. It then sharply cuts, with a sound effect to create tension.
Codes and conventions of film openings
I have looked at a wide variety of film openings, which all vary significantly.
The first film i analysed was 'Leprichaun', directed by Mark Jones.
Blue tinted lighting is used to signify coldness and mysterious/magical elements.
The font used is celtic style which links to the irish myth.
A canted angle is also used in the beginning of this film, which signifies somethings not right/ something bads going to happen.
'Scream' is also a film i analysed in great detail, as it is one of the horror films we used to get ideas from.
It begins with non-diegetic music, with long continuous notes to make you feel tense. A heartbeat then comes in which creates more tension-your heart starts to beat faster.
There is then more non-diegetic sound of a creeking door which signifies old fashioned horror.
The blue colour tint in the lighting is used again in this film, signifying the supernatural- Since Halloween 1978 and its extensive use of blue tint its become a key convention of horror, and used in most films.
There are sharp serif edges of font- also often used in horrors as it signifies death etc.
It then starts to flash red over screen, going with the hearbeat. So far its only 13 seconds into the film and in great detail signified a horror film.
There is then diegetic sound of a girl screaming, and lettering turns red signifying blood, violence and threat.
The very first shot is of a blonde female, which shows she will most probably die.
There is a slow zoom and slightly shaking, conveying threat.
Again there is a tilted dutch angle, another thing commonly used in horrors.
The image of the house with trees around it adds to the effect of claustrophobia.
Use of postmodernism with the popcorn- the actress is eating it whereas most of the cinema audience will be aswell.
Tracking is then used, replicating stalking and her being followed by someone.
Wobble of camera- making audience feel nervous.
The actress picks up a knife, signifying the genre. Strong anchorage. The knife is like a phalic representation.
It then goes onto an image of the popcorn rising, which is a visual metaphor for sexual tension.
Nightmare on elm street is mentioned, as this film is made by the same director - "first one was good, but the rest sucked"
The camera then pulls in when there is a threat.
It takes 12 mins 23 seconds for the first death to take place.
After the blonde girl dies it goes onto a shot of a brown haired girl, teddy in shot, girly clothing- contrasting to other girl, signifying innocence and purity. Which could mean she ends up being the final girl.
The first film i analysed was 'Leprichaun', directed by Mark Jones.
Blue tinted lighting is used to signify coldness and mysterious/magical elements.
The font used is celtic style which links to the irish myth.
A canted angle is also used in the beginning of this film, which signifies somethings not right/ something bads going to happen.
'Scream' is also a film i analysed in great detail, as it is one of the horror films we used to get ideas from.
It begins with non-diegetic music, with long continuous notes to make you feel tense. A heartbeat then comes in which creates more tension-your heart starts to beat faster.
There is then more non-diegetic sound of a creeking door which signifies old fashioned horror.
The blue colour tint in the lighting is used again in this film, signifying the supernatural- Since Halloween 1978 and its extensive use of blue tint its become a key convention of horror, and used in most films.
There are sharp serif edges of font- also often used in horrors as it signifies death etc.
It then starts to flash red over screen, going with the hearbeat. So far its only 13 seconds into the film and in great detail signified a horror film.
There is then diegetic sound of a girl screaming, and lettering turns red signifying blood, violence and threat.
The very first shot is of a blonde female, which shows she will most probably die.
There is a slow zoom and slightly shaking, conveying threat.
Again there is a tilted dutch angle, another thing commonly used in horrors.
The image of the house with trees around it adds to the effect of claustrophobia.
Use of postmodernism with the popcorn- the actress is eating it whereas most of the cinema audience will be aswell.
Tracking is then used, replicating stalking and her being followed by someone.
Wobble of camera- making audience feel nervous.
The actress picks up a knife, signifying the genre. Strong anchorage. The knife is like a phalic representation.
It then goes onto an image of the popcorn rising, which is a visual metaphor for sexual tension.
Nightmare on elm street is mentioned, as this film is made by the same director - "first one was good, but the rest sucked"
The camera then pulls in when there is a threat.
It takes 12 mins 23 seconds for the first death to take place.
After the blonde girl dies it goes onto a shot of a brown haired girl, teddy in shot, girly clothing- contrasting to other girl, signifying innocence and purity. Which could mean she ends up being the final girl.
Coursework Task
The Brief set for our AS coursework production is as follows:
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)