Film synopsis

Our main character will be walking down an isolated lane when she suddenly hears a noise from behind. The character turns around to look but when she does, no one is there. When she turns back around there is another version of herself, a bloody and dead version. She tries to run away but when she does, the other version of herself is in front of her again. The other version of herself reaches out slowly and puts her hand on her shoulder, breaking eye contact and looking in the direction of a suspicious figure behind. The suspicious figure then starts attacking her with a knife resulting in her dying.

In our film the criminal will be a young man - The deranged ex-boyfriend of the victim. The criminal will kill her by stabbing her to death. There will be no police enforcement in this film at any point so the killer will still be roaming around freely.

Film storyboard

Audience research

I researched the best film openings and I came across several. I chose the ones that are popular and iconic.

1) Scream (Wes Craven) 1996



2) Halloween



3) The Stepfather



The sort of things that attract people to certain films could be the type of film it is. For example, a comedy, chick flick, horror, thriller etc. The plot of the film is the main aspect that makes people want to watch it, if the plot is interesting more people will want to watch it. The movie trailer is also something that attracts people to the film. The movie trailers usually show the main parts of the movie or the scenes that are more gripping. The actors and actresses is another reason as to what attracts people to watching films. If the actors/actresses are well known it's more likely they're acting in the film because the film is good.

The things that put people off movies could, again, be the opposite of all of the above. Bad acting, cheesiness, boring etc. For me, the one thing that puts me off movies is the use of subtitles.

Horror film mood board

For my mood board, I first chose suitable locations for a horror film. Locations are important as they set the scene for a film. If chosen correctly, the audience may be scared before the film has even started. Some examples of horror locations could be abandoned apartments, graveyards, old houses, forests etc. The next thing I looked at adding were costumes. Horror costumes are often important because you can tell what sort of character they are just by the way they're dressed. In most horror films, the antagonist wears a mask to hide their identity. The last thing I added were the props. In horror films, the antagonist always carry a prop - a weapon. For example, in Scream the killer always carries a knife with them to kill people. Another example, in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre the killer always uses a chainsaw to kill people.

The Jelly Babies Challenge - An independent movie storyboard

We chose the independent movie brief as we all thought there was a lot of interesting plots that we could use. Again, instead of making a storyboard I created a Prezi. If I were to film this actual movie, I'd use 3 shots throughout the scenes. These would be long shot,  a tracking shot and a close up.

The plot of our jelly baby story is the protagonist is a regular at a cafe. She is aware of all the people that go and knows almost everyone of them. However, one afternoon a new person enters, they are very mysterious and catches her eye but not only that, she catches his eye also.

This is what the protagonist is like from the front.

What went well was unlike our other jelly baby story, we didn't take a long time planning the setting and little props for the story, along with this the setting looked very good. Another thing that went well was we finished taking the shots all in one lesson, for our other jelly baby story we had to finish it outside of the lesson. Additionally, we took all the pictures in the same place so there was no notable changes such as surface.

Our finished item would look even better if the pencils we were used to place the jelly babies in specific places weren't in the shots. Also, I think it would have been better if we had a few shots with the protagonist's glasses. (We were aiming for our movie to be hipster and the opposite from mainstream and so the glasses are relevant.) And with the planning, I think we took way too long to actually decide upon the plot.

Saw film timeline - Psychological horror

This is my last timeline out of the three I have chosen in my film genre.

Devil's Due film timeline - Psychological horror

This is my second timeline of the three that I have chosen which comply with the film genre.

Black Swan film timeline - Psychological horror

Here's the first timeline to my three chosen horror films that comply with my film genre.

Mise-en-scene:

• Costumes: The protagonist is wearing a white, silk dress. The use of the colour white denotes purity, innocence, wholeness and completion which is later portrayed throughout the film.

The Jelly Babies Challenge - A ghost story storyboard

As a group, we chose this one as we believed we had a good understanding of the key conventions in ghost films. Instead of creating a storyboard to show what happens in our story, I decided to use prezi.  I used 5 shots to create the story plot. If I was to film this i'd like to use establishing shot, shallow focus shot, whip pan, close up and a hand-held shot within the 5 scenes.

The plot of our jelly baby story is 4 friends go out camping and throughout the night one of the characters hears a noise so then goes and investigates. In the end, she is killed by a demonic ghost.

What went well with our jelly baby story is as a group we planned it very well and agreed on mostly everything. We didn't have any disagreements on anything and everyone made a contribution to the planning. What also went well was the backgrounds we created specifically for the story made the story a lot more interesting and eye catching. Another thing would be we kept within the borderline of the film having to be PG.

Our finished item would look even better if we used the same setting for each picture. (In the last picture, the surface was different to the previous four.) Additionally I think we shouldn't have taken to long to decide what we wanted to do (even though it turned out good in the end) along with that, we took a long time to actually create the settings.

Analysing the horror genre/horror films - Representations and techniques

Devil's Due

Let The Right One In 

Why are these films successful?
 

The first element that is similar in both films is that they represent the female gender as killers. In Devil's Due the main female character gets possessed by a devil and starts to attack random people frequently. And in Let The Right One In the main female character is a vampire and kills people for their blood. Another similar thing in each film is that they are both set and location in modern suburbia. In these films they are both set in large populated cities. The types of criminals are both supernatural and the crimes are also supernatural associated. In Devil's Due the female has been possessed by demons and in Let The Right One In the female is a vampire. The methods of killing often involves a lot of blood being spilled. Non-diegetic sound is used in both films to add a tense and dramatic atmosphere to each, it instils fear too. Another representation is of the victims. They are all just random killings and by them being random it sends a message that no one is safe and the police are helpless. Similarly there is a representation of the female characters boyfriend/husband. They often play a large part in the films. In Devil's Due the husband is the one that is trying to find out what's happening and in the end it ends with him. In Let The Right One In the main female character loves the guy so much that she sacrifices herself for him. A technique that is notable in the films is the omniscient narration. From the start, we know that the young girl in Let The Right One In is a vampire but some other characters do not. And in Devil's Due we know that the lady gets possessed and starts going crazy however her husband doesn't until the end. Another technique that is often used in these films are close ups. Close ups are used to decipher the characters emotions and feelings. For example if they are to kill someone, having a close up will show the audience if they enjoyed it or not. Rule of thirds is also distinguishable throughout the films. In the image about of Let The Right One In, rule of thirds in depth of field is used. In addition to other camera techniques used, Follow Shots are used in films such as the ones I'm analysing.  The audience is made aware of the character's presence and is able to observe them in action, while also being forced to identify with the character.

From analysing the two films, I know that I would like to add most of these techniques and representations into the film I'm going to create.

 



Horror film music

I researched into the music that was created for horror films. By doing this, I now know what music I will need for my horror film and what will make it look good.

Notable horror character actors

I researched some of the most notable horror characters throughout the years and in this Prezi, I have added the most popular ones that suit their role.

5 greatest horror film directors

I have researched 5 of the greatest horror film genre directors and the greatest is George Romero who is best known for his series of The Night Of The Living Dead.

Camera shots/angles for a horror film

I've found some good research on camera shots and angles that are commonly used in horror films. Such as close ups and tilted shot. I couldn't fit all of them in my prezi so some other ones would be "zoom". Zoom adds to the dramatic effect and creates an element of suspense and fear as you don't know what you're going to see next. It could also be used to zoom into something gory or gruesome. Another use would be to notice something supernatural that you wouldn't have noticed before. The last camera shot would be "over the shoulder". This is one of the best shots to build tension. This shot is used a lot in horrors to add suspense, and is used especially around mirrors and reflections so the audience can see what's happening as soon as the character does. It's used a lot to show a figure behind a person.

Production techniques

I researched some techniques that are usually included in horror movies. These would be how the villain is introduced, what happens to the victim at the start of the movie, non-diegetic background music, synchronous music and lighting.



 

Horror film target audience

Examples of target audience for some horror movies would be:



The Cabin In The Woods - Young couples

Strangers - Young males

A Nightmare On Elm Street - Couples

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Young Males


Age
The usual age of people watching horror films is around 15 to 25 year olds. During young adulthood they want to try new things and experiment with different emotions and feelings. They want to seek all thrill they can get. Horror movies get this thrill and can excite the young audience easier than an older one. The young audiences are less influenced to being put off the film by violence or unnatural images which may make older audience feel negative towards the film.


Gender
Males are more likely to be a a fan of horrors than girls. This is because stereotypically males love violence which is usually in horror films. From stereotypical portrayals of males, boys self fulfilling prophecy often acts and and they seek the thrill of violence, blood and gore. Horror films then attract them as they seek the thrill it gives.

Pinpointing the conventions of our chosen film genre

We have chosen to do horror for our film genre as we think it would be very fun to film. Plus, after researching, there is a lot of things to go from such as the themes. There are a lot of themes we could choose from and we'll be able to bounce from idea to idea making our film unique. Also, there are a lot of horror films that are really good which we'll be able to take points from and add it into our own.

Evaluation

Evaluation:

I’m quite pleased with the overall product as it turned out better than I predicted. Once we filmed the videos, I was really worried about what it’d look like once they were also edited together and that it wouldn’t flow correctly. There are a few changes I’d make if I got the chance to. We chose a classroom for our video setting but after going through our videos we realised that there was a lot of background noises from other classes although they aren’t completely noticeable, it still interrupts the atmosphere required for the video. I think we also should have double-checked our videos after we filmed because when editing I noticed that some people were in the background when they shouldn’t have been. If we had double-checked them, we would have been able to refilm. Also, when Bailey filmed from the other side of the window, the camera reflection was quite visible which we never noticed until after editing. Another change I’d make if I got the chance would be to make sure the actress’s actions were always continuous. For example, in one film shot Caoimhe would be in one place and the next she’d be in a completely different spot.

I am very happy with the dialogue we used. Originally we tried researching a duologue to use but we couldn’t find one that was reasonably short and interesting. So instead we used a duologue that we already looked at at school and just changed some of it about to make it original. The actors we used were very good, they are both a level drama students so they fit and acted the role really well. They were able to get into their character role almost immediately. The shots that were taken were all ones that looked professional and relevant. They made the video more intense, if that.

The project took reasonably long as the groups that we planned to be in beforehand were all changed about for personal reasons but in the end it worked out perfectly. The actual filming did take a while because when we filmed for the first time, my group didn’t agree on certain things such as actors so it took some time for us to rethink what was going to happen. The second time we tried filming worked because after we spoke about what we think needed to be changed or revaluated, everyone was on the same page.

We didn’t do a risk assessment because we chose a place that was safe to film (a classroom). We know it’s a safe place to film because kids are taught in the same classrooms every day and wouldn’t if there was a danger to them.

I think the techniques we used were suitable for our film, I wouldn’t use a different range because the ones we did use, 180 degree rule, shot/reverse shot and match on action, were compulsory and if we did add in different ones I think we’d all get confused and mix the whole filming and editing up. Although, we did use an occasional close up now and again. After relooking over our storyboard and video we realised that we in fact did break the 180 degree rule and by doing this it distorts the audiences orientation and also makes the scene seem less realistic. I think it had a rather large impact on the way the film is presented to an audience.

I showed the videos to my friends (as the audience is for teenagers mainly) and they really liked the video. I think it does work for our audience because the actresses are also teenagers so it’s easier to apply to a real life situation and it’s something you see happen on a daily basis, especially on television programmes.

I don’t think are any specific changes that need to be made at this point in time, although like I mentioned in my first paragraph there are things I’d do different if I was to film again. One change I have done recently for our video is I forgot to put our logo at the start of the film so I had to edit it in.

Planning and research

Planning and research

 

Setting details

 

We spoke of where we think filming our video would be most ideal and some of the options we thought were –

 

·         In a classroom

·         In a corridor

·         On a bench

In the end we thought it would be best to film our video in a classroom as it was suitable for the situation we were filming. Also by it being in a classroom it demonstrated the continuity actions that were asked to be involved such as opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character and exchanging a few lines of dialogue.

 

 

Character list

 

There were only 2 people that were in the film. Caoimhe was a bully who went to collect the money. Rainbow was the innocent victim that got the money taken from her.

 

 

Equipment/props list

 

The equipment we used to film the video was a camcorder and an SD card. We used a school camcorder but initially we were going to use Bailey’s camera as it’s a really good one. However, nearer the time we chose to use a school one and it was a lot better than we expected. All the videos came out in really good quality. The school camera didn’t come with an SD card although Bailey had brought an SD card into school which was for her camera and it fit into the schools one.

 

The only prop we used for our video was money that we printed out. We printed out £240 worth of notes. This prop made the scene seem more realistic as the money looked real.

 

 

 

 

Duologue

B1 – Caoimhe

B2 – Rainbow

 

B1 passes a room and in the corner of her eye sees B2. Camera goes behind B1’s head and sees her watching B2. Walks through the door yelling ‘Oi!’ (match on action)

 

B2 is sat a table. B1 stands above her: ‘Have you got it?’ (180 degree rule)

 

B2, nervously: ‘Yeah’

 

B1, aggressively: ‘Hand it over then’

 

B2, keeping eyes down & hands it over. (match on action)

 

B1, looking at it: ‘Is that all of it?’

 

B2: ‘Yeah' (shot/reverse shot)

 

B1, strangely cheerful: 'That’ll be all then'

 

B1, unsure: 'Good doing business with you'

 

B1 exits.

 

 

Preliminary video storyboard

We chose the setting of our preliminary film at school/in a classroom because we thought it would appeal to a wider audience and would be suitable for our chosen audience.

 

 

 

 

Preliminary task video

We chose to use Nicole's logo at the start because it seems more suitable. I think it looks a lot more professional as it can fit any type of audience where mine and Bailey's would more likely fit a younger audience.

Media summer work - storyboard/pictures

Media summer work - essay

From preparing my storyboard and watching the scene from The Hunger Games that I planned to film, I wrote down several camera techniques that I’d like to use and which would work effectively.

I’d first use the Close Up (and variations) technique when filming Rainbow (who is playing Katniss) looking around the location. I want to use this technique because it draws the viewer close and involves them in what is happening. It also detects reactions and emotions from the character.

After I’d do an Establishing Shot whilst Rainbow is looking around because it establishes the relationship between the set and the character.

Then I would Whip Pan from each character that is in the scene. I would do this to introduce all the characters to the viewer and observe each characters emotion. I think it makes the scene seem more intense.

I’d then use a Wide Shot and Shallow Focus to show tributes in the background while the camera is focused on a close up to Rainbow. I’d like to use the Wide Shot because it establishes the set or location and it shows a large amount of people. I would also like to use Shallow Focus because it often is used to make one thing seem more important than the other. (So, for example, Katniss is more important than the other tributes as she is in focus whilst everyone behind is out of focus)

Following that, I hope to use the Pull Focus. I will use this when the camera changes focus and the previous tribute that was blurry and out of focus becomes in focus with Katniss then out of focus. I’ll use this to show the tribute has become important.

Later I shall do subjective filming (or POV) as I look around the location. I want to use this because it’s positioned as if you’re looking through the characters eyes.

I will then do Whip Pan when the capital, districts, Prim and Mrs. Everdeen are watching the hunger games start and Gale is sitting in the grass. Using Whip Pan shows the viewers the characters emotions and reactions.

Next I’ll do the Long Shot technique as everyone is running to get resources. This technique is effective as it sets the scene for the action and brings in the viewer.

Soon after I hope to use the Pull Focus when Rainbow is watching a tribute but then notices a bag available. Using the Pull Focus will show that something new has became more important. (The bag) After, I want to use the Tracking Shot as Rainbow is running to get the bag. The camera will follow her as she runs.

I will use the Head-On Shot after when knives are getting thrown at the character. It will be used to enhance the sense of involvement for the audience. It will look like the knives are directed at or near the camera.

From analysing the film after editing, I’m almost sure that I used every technique that I planned to use.

Techniques:

Close up - Used ✓

Establishing shot – Used ✓

Whip pan – Used ✓

Wide shot and Shallow Focus – Used ✓

Pull Focus – Used ✓

Subjective Filming – Used ✓

Whip pan again – Used ✓

Long Shot – Used ✓

Tracking Shot – Used ✓

Head-On Shot – Used ✓

Editing

When editing the stuff we recorded, I tried out several transitions to add in until I found a suitable one. Eventually, I chose to use Cross Dissolve a few times and Cube. I also used Stabilize Shaky Video, which helped clips that were too shaky and made them look less shaky. In some clips, I used Enhance, which made the clips look darker as the lighting wasn’t very good.

When editing, I added some music over the clips. It was the original sound from the movie. There weren’t any problems when editing, the music fit perfectly with my clips.