Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Actors and Actresses

Emma and I shall be the two actors starring in our short film clip. I had to try and look devious and evil to show I match the part given to me. Emma had to do the same by looking vulnerable as a character and innocent, like an every day person in casual wear. Whereas I had to wear more covering clothes as if I wouldn't want to be in the scene. This isn't linked to the film but if someone were to see this pcitures then it would plant the idea in their heads that they match that certain character.






The picture of the back of Emma's head is the camera shot which will match majority of the time in the short film clip. This is to give the viewers a breif idea of what they would be watching.

Location Research and Planning

Monday, 17 December 2012

Soundtrack Research and Planning

The sound is a very important aspect to our film and especially in horror films where most of the scary scenes would need sound to add more fear to the scene in the film. Volume, pitch and duration of the sound will relate and link to the scene matched in the film. The sound won't be throughout the whole film but it is brought into certain scenes when suspense needs to be added. If you watch a horror film without any sound, it wouldn't scare you as much because the jumpy parts would be uneffective towards the audience.
Volume- How loud or quiet, this volume can be altered e.g. someone getting closer towards the camera or victim when speaking of a horror film.
Pitch- Higher pitch could be used when a killer has killed or caught hold of their victim so it shows danger, same would go for lower pitches e.g. the villain creeping round the corner, signifys slower movements.
Duration- How long the sound goes on for could signify how far the villain is from the victim or camera, and can change depending on how fast or slow the music is going on. It can be made short to match quick and sharp movements from people starring in the film.
All these features are related to how they would be utilised in a horror film.

Friday, 14 December 2012

Storyboard Ideas

For our storyboard we are going to be summarising the most important and key scenes in our 2 minute clip to our film. We won't be drawing and writing on the scenes which don't include a substantial amount of editing, time and effort. The certain scenes we choose to go into our storyboard will need to be the scenes which create the next part to the clip. This would give a brief idea of what the whole 2 minutes would be like without watching it. We need to try explain enough and write enough information down for the reader to understand the scenes otherwise this could cause confusion. The storyboard needs to be clear enough for them to see and interpret.

We need to make sure we don't skip any clear scenes in between others as it could be important for the viewers to see and understand this part of the film. We don't want to give away too much in the storyboard as there wouldn't then be much point in watching the 2 minute clip, the storyboard will be breif and outline what occurs in the 2 minutes.

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Research and Planning: Horror genre types

 

Comedy-Horror
Comedy-Horror films aim to scare the audience, but also provide comical outlets that let the audience laugh at their fear. These films are more the thrillers that build up the tension until a realise that makes the audience jump.
Teen-Horror
Revolves completely around a teenager or a group of teenagers. Typically, these movies have a large cast and a clear hero or heroine. Teen-Horror films often play upon traditional teenage issues, such as dating and prom, and turn them into suspenseful and thrilling situations.
Monster-Horror
Centers on a struggle between human beings and a monster or monsters. Often, the monster in the film has been created in an “experiment gone wrong.” The monster usually serves as a villain, and the film portrays a hero or heroine that ultimately saves the world from the monster.
Slasher
Revolves around a psychopathic killer. This killer stalks and murders his victims in extremely violent and memorable ways. Though it centers on a specific killer, the violence is what sets Slasher films apart from other horror films. A Slasher film will devote more screen time to portray murder and mayhem than a traditional Horror film.
Supernatural-Horror
Includes ghosts, demons, or other depictions of supernatural occurrences. Supernatural-Horror films are not limited to specific religious elements and can contain more vivid and gruesome violence. They centre a group of people trying tp figure out what killed their friend or family and trying to defeat it.
Zombie-Horror
Portrays mindless human beings who are raised from the dead. These films often include a Zombie invasion, and center around Zombies feasting on human flesh. The plot of a Zombie film then revolves around the struggle between the living, and the living-dead.


The genre of our film is- Supernatural- horror. This is a match to the analysis we did and you can research through supernatural to get more of an idea of the techniques and features we're going to be using in our short film clip.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Certificate of Film. 18.


If a video game is rated ‘18’ it contains strong material and is not suitable for players who are under 18.
‘18’ works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:
• very strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg f***) and very strong language (eg c***
)
• strong portrayals of sexual activity
• scenes of sexual violence
• strong horror
• strong blood and gore
• discriminatory language and behaviour.

At ‘18’ drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse


Certificate of Film. 12A and 15.

12AThe '12' certificate is just for videos, DVDs and games. '12A' is for films only.
The BBFC's Guidelines state that there may be strong language (eg 'f***') at ‘12’ or ‘12A’, but it must be infrequent. The context of the strong language is important and aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the ‘15’ category. There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category. There may be moderate language (uses of terms such as ‘b*tch’ and ‘tw*t’ at ‘12’ 0r ‘12A’.
Sex may be briefly and discreetly portrayed in a ‘12A’ film, DVD or video game. Verbal sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers and frequent crude sex references are unlikely to be accepted. There may be nudity in ‘12A’ films but sexual nudity should only be brief and discreet.
At ‘12A’, moderate violence is allowed but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if they can be justified by their context (for example brief sight of bloody injury in a medical drama).
Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated at ‘12A’. It must also have a strong contextual justification.Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at ‘12’ or ‘12A’ as long as disturbing sequences are not too frequent or sustained.






15


If a video game is rated ‘15’ it is not suitable for players who are under 15. Parents should not assume that because something is a game it is unlikely to contain the same sort of material as a ‘15’ rated film or DVD. If the BBFC has rated a game ‘15’ it is because it does contain the same sort of material as a ‘15’ rated film or DVD.
‘15’ works are stronger than '12' or ‘12A’ rated works and could include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking



At ’15’ there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable

At ‘15’ drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at ‘15’.



Certificate of Film. U and PG.

U.

There will only be mild bad language in a 'U' for example, 'Damn, hell, etc'. Occasionally, bad language such as ‘bloody’ or ‘bugger’ may be included, where justified by the context.
Characters may be seen kissing or cuddling and there may be references to sexual behaviour (ie to ‘making love’). However, there will be no overt focus on sexual behaviour, language or innuendo
A ‘U’ film may include brief fight scenes or moments where characters are placed in danger. However, moments of emotional stress or threat will be quickly resolved and the outcome will be reassuring.  There may be brief scary scenes and moments where the characters are placed in danger. As with violence, however, these scenes will be balanced by reassuring elements, such as comic interludes or music.‘Baddie’ characters may carry or use weapons, but there will be no emphasis on these. Child or ‘hero’ characters are unlikely to use any kind of weapon. Potentially dangerous or imitable behaviour, particularly those which come across as safe or fun, will not be present.
The films that would normally pass as a 'U' certificated film, would normally target a younger audience for example years 4+, such as Toy Story.
At ‘U' there will not normally be references to illegal drugs or drugs misuse unless there is a very clear anti-drugs or educational message which will be understood by a younger audience.
Drugs references which are unlikely to register with young children and are brief or passing may occasionally be passed at ‘U’ – for example a verbal reference to ‘the Opium wars’ in an historical documentary.






P.G
Some films, such as documentaries, are given a ‘PG’ certificate but have not been made with a young audience in mind. However, the certificate means that any issues in the work are appropriate for the majority of this age group and nothing should upset a child of eight or over. Theme is prohibited at ‘PG’, as long as it is treated in a manner appropriate to the category. ‘PG’ works can explore challenging issues such as domestic violence, bereavement or racism.
In a ‘PG’ work, illegal or antisocial behaviour, such as bullying, will not be condoned or seen to go unchallenged. Smoking and drinking will not be promoted or glamorised and if child characters are seen smoking or drinking, there should be a clear message that this is bad. If drugs are mentioned or seen, a ‘PG’ work should emphasise that they are harmful.
There may be mild bad language (such as ‘shit’ or ‘son of a bitch’) in a ‘PG’ film, but the context and delivery are always important. For example, if the language is used aggressively or if there is too much bad language, a work may be passed at the next category.
References to sex are acceptable if the activity talked about or shown is implied and lacking in detail. In addition, if a child is unlikely to understand a reference, we may allow it at ‘PG’.
There should be no detail of violence in a ‘PG’ work, so while there might be some blood, we would not see how the injury was inflicted. Violence is generally more acceptable in a historical or fantasy setting, because of the distancing that this provides.
As far as horror goes, we allow some 'jump' moments and scary scenes, but sequences showing significant or realistic violence, horror or threat must not be prolonged.
Potentially dangerous behaviour which children might copy (such as a child climbing into a washing-machine or playing with electricity) is unlikely to be acceptable at ‘PG’, especially if it comes across as safe or fun. Realistic or easily accessible weapons, such as knives, will not be glamorised or focused upon in a ‘PG’ work.
There might be innocuous or passing references to illegal drugs or drugs misuse in a ‘PG’ work, although there should be no strong focus on this. In addition drug references may be permissible if there is a clear anti-drugs or educational message likely to be understood by children over eight.
The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. '12A' means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and se
ilm unaccompanied. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (eg someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.

Horror Description

Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. They often feature scenes that startal the viewer, and the supernatural are frequent themes. They would usually overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.
Horror films often deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, commonly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, curses, satanism, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals and people, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. Conversely, movies about the supernatural are not necessarily always horrific.
People often watch them to get personal thrills and it's the suspense of the film that creates the atmosphere when watching one. People was also watch them as a social benefit as some like to watch them in groups as they would rather not view them alone.

The Name of Our Horror Film

Potential Names of Our Film

Answers to Questionnaire

We asked 20 people in total, all the questions so all answers would be divided between 20.


What features would you find appealing in a Horror film and why?
Editing 6/20
Mise en Scene 5/10
Camera shots 2/10
Sounds 7/10

Why would you choose to watch a horror film?
Thrill 9/20
Social 6/20
Pleasure 1/20
Casual 4/20

What is your favourite horror film?
Most people said Insidious, various people said Sinister and a few random horror films like The Exorsist, The Shining and Friday 13th.

If you had a style of horror film, what would your favourite be and why?
Gore 10/20
Thriller 1/20
Paranormal 6/20
Abnormal 3/20

How many horror films would you watch a week?
1-2 11/20
3-5 4/20
6-8 3/20
9+ 2/20

What makes a horror film scary for you and why?
Most people said the build up of suspension and being drawn in by the anticipation of whats going to happen. Not being able to judge or know what will happen next is what excites the viewers.

What is your favourite series of horror films?
My personal favourite series of horror film would be all 7 Saw films, this is not only due to the gore and fear factor, but is also because of the intelligence behind the plots within the film. Others agreed but varied between Paranormal activity and The Ring.

Questionnaire Research and Planning

We will be asking a questionnaire to find out more about our film from other peoples point of view and what are the good and bad things about our film so far. The advantages and disadvantages of picking a horror film for our 2 minute clip.

What features would you find appealing in a Horror film and why?
Editing
Mise en Scene
Camera shots
Sounds

Why would you choose to watch a horror film?
Thrill
Social
Pleasure
Casual

What is your favourite horror film?

If you had a style of horror film, what would your favourite be and why?
Gore
Thriller
Paranormal
Abnormal

How many horror films would you watch a week?
1-2
3-5
6-8
9+

What makes a horror film scary for you and why?

What is your favourite series of horror films?



Thursday, 6 December 2012

Editing in our film

Bryony, James, Emma and I are using a lot of editing in our film. This is because it is a horror, so most of the scary features need to be made from editing the clip so it can be made more scary than it already is. Different effects can make it alternate from what can usually do with a camera which add to the effect of it not being able to happen which stuns the viewers and makes them scared and feel more vulnerable towards the film. Editing, like colour variation, contrast and saturation is an effect used commonly in horror films to make it appear more dark or light. It can also change the facial features and all of these effects, we're going to use in our short clip to make it seem as interesting as possible. The face could be distorted (which will be Emma), so Emma will look more scary and it will stand out to the audience. Cameras will be edited and cut before the end of the scene so that the film is more fluent and it would be hard to notice that we changed camera angle as we would be blending it in.

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Our Preliminary Task

 

Over the course of a few lessons, we we're given a task and that was to film, edit and upload a short film consisting of various shots we have learned in previous lessons, such as; Medium shot, over the shoulder etc. We also learned about other various shots and angles of the camera and effect it would have on the audience

We were lucky to get a spare office that wasnt in use when we were filming our film and that we had to take many shots because we couldnt stop laughing or half way through the shot, we would forget our lines. It took 3 lessons to film our task as we had to keep refilming the whole task as all of us would be in different clothes than the previous time.

We (Jordan, Emma, Bryony and I) chose to do an interview. We did all of the filming and editing in 5 lessons (Around 5 hours). Editing took 2 lessons to do, the first lesson we put everything together and cut out all of the faults that we have filmed, then the next lesson we made sure everything was fine and that there was no faults.

We decided to do an interview because we could get more shots in and more oppotunities to get more marks.

Horror movie (Opening 2 mins Ideas)

 

For the opening two minutes of our horror film. We have chosen for the beginning of the scene is the main character- Emma. Walking down a path with wet hair to give the impression that she's vulnerable, alone and innocent. I shall be wearing basic casual wear which contradicts the look of my wet hair and gives the sense of foreboding, Bryony as the camera person shall use effects to scare the audeince and to make it more tense- shaking the camera, long shots and close up shots.
-Example of a long shot.

-Example of close up shots.

-The reason why we've chosen to use there shot types is because we want to get more of an effect towards the audience and we want them to enagage with the horror film and to feel involved so they feel tense and there anxiety builds up.
-We won't just be using long shots and close ups shots, we shall also be using extreme close ups, and camera shots which link with whats going on with the scene at the time.
-For the opening two minutes we won't be using that many shot types as its only for two minutes and if we did use more it shall just make the opening two minutes look like a mess and that it hasnt been oragnised properly which won't look professional. Which isn't a good for the opening two minutes.

-The scene is set at night down a path which runs through the woods to a clearing bridge over a river. By using this setting for the opening two minutes shall already give an impression on the audeince about what the film is going to be about and whats going to be involved which shall make the audeince question it which makes them more engaged and involved with the horror film.
-As the camera follows me - Emma whilst im walking down the path till i reach the bridge over the river.
-We use jump cuts of the camera getting closer and closer to me and through this all we are going to see is the back of my head. By doing this and not showing my face shall make the audience want to see my face and it shall make the audince question the facial expressions and the look on my face.

-Once on the bridge i shall look down at the water as if im going to jump. The camera shall pan to the side slighty keeping me in the shot to show the black figure behind me in the woods. Then the camera cuts to the view of me from the perspective of the figure concealsed in the darkness and approaches me until directly behind me as we can hear the heavy rugged breathing.
-I spin around and scream and the screen goes black. When we see my face it shall be made to look pale and i have black rings around my eyes, when i scream we distort my face for the added effect which is always good for a horror film as they are usually effective.
-The next scene shows James and Jordan as we don't see Jordan's face in the first scene we can use him as a different character watching the news report the next day. The reporter shall reveal the disappearance of a teenage girl which i me. Which makes the 1,2,3,4 and 5 year anniversary to the day of the disappearances in the same place. This makes it more of a mysterious and the person has got a way with it which makes it more scary for the audeince and makes it more tense towards the audience.

Why it is good to used Text at the start of the film

 

Its good to use text in the opening of the two minutes of a film because it makes it more effective and gives more information about the film so the audeince can feel like they know the film and who made and produced it. It gives a sense of engagement and involvment within the film.
-By showing the cast and the characters makes it more interesting and so that people know whoes going to be included in the film. For instance, if people liked an actor or an actress whoes involed in the film it shall make them more intreseted and it shall make the film more popular. Which would be good for the film producer and the money towards the film and the filming industry.
-By saying whoes the music producer, the editing producer and who made the film gives it more input as it shows that not just one person has made the film but more than one has been involed in making the film which shows that it was hard work and you had to do more than one thing to make the film good. By using text just gives it that little bit extra and makes it more effective and goes well with the film itself.

The use of text - why were are using it for

- The reason why we are going to use text in our opening two minutes is because its more effective and it shall give the film and real feel to it and make it look more professional as thats what the film indutsry mainly do.
- We are going to include
- The music producer
- The editing producer
- The cast and producer
- The person who made the film
- The film company that produces our film
-This gives it more of an impact on the film and more information about it.

Monday, 3 December 2012

Horror Movie - Poster Analysis - 1980's

   A lot has changed over the last 30 years, horror movie wise, as the movies get more scarier and the budgets get higher and also as technology grows everyday, we see that there has been a huge difference on how the film industry presents their movies on posters, from the 1980's to the present day.


In the 1980's we see that the posters are normally have a big, bold title which would normally be in a dark red, to represent blood. They would also have the 'killer' or mastermind on the front of the poster to make it scarier for the viewers.
The Fog, this movie would be suited for an adult audience, e.g. 16-24 age group, because the image of the main character looks like a young adult and it feels like it would suit that age group. Firstly, we see 4 main colours, red being the main colour, which had made the title of the film, represents blood, passion and just pure evil, to make the audience feel uneasy or scared and it also makes it stand out, the red drips from the the title also represent blood which represents the blood dripping from a victim, which could also represent violence and harm and will inflicted onto the victim from the killer (maybe the main character on the front of the poster). We also see a mixture of grey, green and black in the background, which makes it feel its a sort of graveyard, misty feel, which drags the audience into the poster, making them feel that they are there within the poster.
The facial expressions in the poster show horror, excitement and astonishment, these are essential to a horror movie, as it brings in the target audience into the movie. The face on the poster takes up a third of the poster which highlights the presence of fear, which will surround the presence of fear in the movie.
There is one main character in the film, which shows the importance to bring in a huge audience as they wouldve heard of the name before. In movie posters, the celebrities name is at the top, stereotypically for the 'star factor' and for the celebrities name being at the top is so the audiences eyes would be drawn to the name.
This film has followed the convosations of being a horror genre as the victim in the poster as being female. This is cause females are often chosen as victims in horror movies as they are thought to be vulverable and that they are weaker than men, therefore still being vulnerable to the actions of the villian.

Insidious Analysis







Insidious is in the horror movie genre and the target audience for this film would be teenagers/ young adults e.g 16-24. The film poster for 'Insidious' follows the codes and conventions of a horror film poster; The audiences eyes moves straight to the main image, which is the boy, it dominates most of the page. He is wearing a red shirt, which could represent blood and death. The shot is a medium close up, clearly showing his face and eyes, which stand out the most. They look like they have been scratched out by the nails of the evil spirit. They are also white, which usually represents innocents but in this case would represent the supernatural. He has a very blank facial expression, he almost looks numb which links in with the fact that in the film, he is in a coma. The tag line is placed at the bottom of the page, just beneath the film title. It's a light blue colour, representing a the feeling of coldness and emptiness, it also links in with the colours of the background which is also mainly light blue. It's placed in a location where the audience would look next, after they see the title of the film, that way they will know what it is that they should fear which is the boy as the tag line is 'Its not the house that's haunted', it gives clues as to what the narrative is, and tells us it's the boy that is possessed. On the film poster, we see ratings from a source, probably film critics, who has watched the film before hand, this would also attract the audience because the critics have given the film 5 stars which will bring in a bigger target audience as it has good reports.

Scream 4 Opening 2 Minutes



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W4shJkc20iA#t=0s


In the few seconds the phone rings, very common in horror films, the ring of the phone is designed to make the audience jump as intense music was played beforehand and the ring of the phone was made very loud. The girl who answers it is young and pretty and is home alone with her friend; the scene is set at night. All this set a feeling of foreboding within the audience.
A close up of the characters face is used to show her emotions as she answers the phone. The voice on the phone is very deep and rasping, the audience will assume he will be the killer.
The girls start to converse about scary films there typically shallow teen girl stereotypes make the audience dislike them, there for the audience almost want them to die, this is quite typical of horror films.
The lighting is dark and mysterious this creates tension and intrigue, there are lots of dark corners in the background that make the audience nervous. The teenagers are displayed as ignorant as they continue to assume it’s a joke until it starts to get violent. As the phone rings a third time the camera shots linger more on the characters to take in their reactions, they start to get spooked. The house is big and is presumably in a rural area, to make the characters seem all on their own.
Shot reverse shot is used during their conversation and establishes their relationship to each other and where they are within the scene over the shoulder shots show the scene from each of their points of view. There are lots of doors and windows which increase tension and suspicion.

Halloween 2 Opening 2 Minutes



The beginning of the film is silent which give a sinster effect, then a song comes on, it is upbeat and jolly, but after the effect of the silence and with the black screen it appears even more sinister than the silence.
It is set at night, and as the camera pans down we see trees being blown by the wind, this creates a spooky feel and a feeling of foreboding. The slow panning of the camera makes the audience tense wonering what is about to be revealed. The music fades out as dialogue begins.
The lighting is dark and used to make the scene scarier, the characters including 2 children (common in horror films) are sitting on the floor, this makes them look fallorn the camera is also at floor level which also makes the audience feel like victims. As we come to a medium shot that looks over the characters shoulder we see a figure appear as we see this the camera jump cuts to the children running and screaming from the house, this tells the audience that the reason for distress is linked to the unknown figure in the room.
As the character inside the house stands up the camera stays still giving the impression that she and the audience are too scared to move. The figure in the background also stands up, creepy theatric music also starts up this makes the seen seem more abnormal and intense. The figure slowly walks into the light which makes the audience tense and curious about the features if the figure, however the figure is wearing a mask which makes him seem so much more scary and mysterious.

Mood Board Analysis

The wooded pictures- The main setting of our 2 minutes is going to be a wooded clearing at night near a river. These picture are good because they highlights the tension and feeling of foreboding. All the pictures of the woods combined highlights the look and feel that we want to create while filming in the woods.
The wooded picture with the figure- in one of our shots we are planning on having a partly concealed figure, this picture sort of illistrates what we want, however the feel of our camera shot of the figure in the woods to come across paranormal and spooky.
The mask- is there because we are planning on concealing the identity of our 'killer' completly so that you can only see a black outline of a figure.

The pale face and the running eye make-up- our victim of our first 2 minutes is going to have a distorted and creepy face, to make this we are going to use pale face make-up and black running eye make-up. This is designed to scare the audience, showing them that the film is about a paranormal evil.

Sinister Analysis





Sinister is a 2012 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. It follows true-crime writer Ellison- Ethan Hawke as he discovers a box of home movies that put his family in danger.
- The opening scene of sinister shows a family moving into a house which is a horror cliche as horror films usually are plotted in houses which is good use of mis-en-scene. It makes the audience know that its going to be scary and shall cause tension because the audience shall feel like they know what is about to happen. They can infer from the location of the film. It makes the audience question about whats going to happen which is a social value of the genre of horror.
-The music of the first opening two minutes links with what the narrative is and the clip. Furthermore, it gives the audience an idea of how the film is going to be portrayed. Which is a horror cliche.

Genres

Mise en Scene for Film Clip

Mise-en-scène is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, they are expressed through props in films and they are used as a scene matching link so that it looks more realistic for viewers. Another example would be clothing, so you would dress a tramp in raggy and dirty clothes to match their background and part to play in the film.
The Mise en Scene we'll use in our clip is Emma (the vulnerable character) wearing a ragged white dirty cloak sort of dress, to make her look open to an attack. I will be dressed in black and the scene will be set at night so blend in more making it more scary for viewers and giving the impression I don't want to be seen very clearly and that i'm trying to hide from the sight of Emma.
Most of the Mise en Scene will be blended in with the editing and this is so that it is more fluent in the film and this adds effect. James will be dressed in black also as another scary factor to the movie clip.
The props that will be used are Emmas handbag which will have items like a mobile phone, make up and other things which make it look like she is vulnerable and as if she was unexpected to an attack. This is the sort of thing that most women would be carrying in their handbag so it makes it look more realistic and would frighten the audience more to make it seem they can relate to the film.

Film Ideas 3

Film Ideas 2

Film Ideas 1


Sunday, 2 December 2012

Brief anaylsis on film

The film made by Bryony, James, Emma and I, will be carefully strcutured and thought out before put into film as we don't want to rush and make silly mistakes and errors. We decided on a horror purely because I find it the most exciting out of all genres and it really grips the audience the most aimed at an age group which would be more likely to watch more films in their spare time. We have analysed and done background research on horror films which we have also done a few blogs on to give a few ideas on what features our film will contain. There are certain skills and techniques used in horror films to give off effects to scare the auidience and intrigue them more into what the plot is. I will give an example as to the camera angles, shots, and techniques we'll be using in our short video clip to the film.

These skills would be:
Zoom- This is used when they want the audience to see something specific about what is on camera, it could be emotion on the characters face or it could be an object of some sort.
Two shot- Commonly used when two people are having either a casual conversation giving vital information or they are interacting about what has happened previously when they want the audience to pay attention to what they're saying.
Long shot- This will be used to give someone a view of the surroundings and the character involved. This will be effective in the scary parts in our small horror film clip as it is commonly used in most other horror films.
Extreme long shot- This will be the shot that we use mostly and this is because you can see a slight outline of the character but not details, it also focuses more on the setting so that the audience don't know too much about the character and it adds suspense.

Friday, 30 November 2012

Saw The Film Analysis



Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell. It is the debut of Wan and Whannell and the first installment of the seven-part Saw film series.
This film would attract the ages of 16-25 age group because it is a psychological horror which appeals to this sort of age because of the genre features and the excitement of the film. All 7 films are as good as each other and link fluently throughout the series.

The plot of this film begins with two men who wake up at opposite sides of a dirty, disused bathroom, chained by their ankles to pipes. Between them lies a dead man loosely clutching a hand-held tape player and a handgun. Each finds a tape the perfect fit for the player in their back pocket. They play the tapes. One is threatened, the other isn't. But they have a task: One must kill the other by 6:00, or his wife and daughter will die. They find hacksaws in a toilet, and try to cut the chains, but it doesn't work. They are the two newest victims of the Jigsaw Killer. In a flashback, we learn of Amanda, a girl who falls victim to the Jigsaw Killer. On her head is a mask, which is hooked into her lower jaw. There is a timer on it. Only one key will unlock it, and that key is in the digestive tract of her cell mate who lies paralyzed on the opposite side of the room. If she doesn't unlock the mask in time, her lower jaw will be ripped wide open. She survives, but her cell mate doesn't. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn of more victims, and of the nearly-successful capture of the Jigsaw Killer, who doesn't actually kill his victims. Instead, he finds ways to make them kill either themselves, or each other, and he thinks the entire 'game' out perfectly, with no other ways out. Or so it would seem.

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Grave Encounters Analysis

 
 
 
 
Lance Preston and the crew of "Grave Encounters", a ghost-hunting reality television show, are shooting an episode inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. All in the name of good television, they voluntarily lock themselves inside the building for the night and begin a paranormal investigation, capturing everything on camera. They quickly realize that the building is more than just haunted - it is alive - and it has no intention of ever letting them leave. They find themselves lost in a labyrinth maze of endless hallways and corridors, terrorized by the ghosts of the former patients. They soon begin to question their own sanity, slipping deeper and deeper into the depths of madness, ultimately discovering the truth behind the hospital's dark past...and taping what turns out to be their final episode.
 
The reason i'm writing about this imperticular film is because Bryony, James, Emma and I are doing 2 minutes of a horror film and are looking at possible ideas linking to what we could put into ours. The editing in this film is probably the idea which we're going to take and put into ours as it adds more of an effect which creates a more scary atmosphere.

Mind map for Horror



This is evaluating our options and ideas for our film and somes up all of the plans ond plots of what we're going to use in our film.
We have spoken about all aspects and features used in a normal film and have used these ideas and narrowed them down to what woould best suit our film of a Horror.

Mood board for Horror

                                                                                                                                                               

The Ring Analysis



The Ring is a 2002 American psychological horror film directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Naomi Watts, Daveigh Chase, and Martin Henderson. Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers (including her niece). There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. If the legend is correct, Rachel will have to run against time to save her son's and her own life.
When her niece spontaneously dies of fright one week to the day she watched a disturbing video, a cynical journalist travels to the Pacific Northwest in search of the tape's origins and its links to a string of suicides at a horse ranch.
A mysterious video tape is killing off anyone who watches it. Whenever the victim watches it, the phone rings, telling them they have only one week to live. A young reporter named Rachel is investigating these events, but after she and her small son watch the tape, it becomes a race against time to find out why the tape is killing everyone and how it could be stopped.
Rachel Keller is a journalist who decides to go undercover on the mysterious death of her niece and her three friends, who seemed to all died on the same day at the same time- 10:00 PM. After being told that her niece was found in a closet with a horrifying look on her face, she searches through her room and finds some pictures, pictures of the cabin where her niece and her friends had stayed a week before the deaths. Rachel finds the cabin and finds an unknown video there. She decides to watch it there, and now has only a limited time to live. She and her divorced husband, Noah, research about the video and find facts about Anna Morgan and her daughter, Samara Morgan, the maker of this video. With only a week left, Rachel and Noah discover the unknown secrets of the life of Samara Morgan, and, hopefully for them, a way to break the curse.
Rachel Keller is a young journalist who's recently heard about a mysteriously cursed videotape, that seemed to lead to her nieces death within 7 days of her watching it. Puzzled, confused, and saddened by her tragic and sudden death, she begins to do some further investigation on this horrific video which involves her visiting the "Shelter Mountain Inn", the infamous place where her niece Katie and her friends first viewed this videotape. She herself watches the video, and sure enough the phone begins to ring.... "7 days". So now the clock is ticking and the days are going by, and Rachel has only 7 days to unravel the mystery of "The Ring". As many questions arise, and parts of this unraveled mystery begin to be revealed, there is only one question that remains.... will she make it in time, or will her 7 days be up before she can solve this puzzle?

Friday, 16 November 2012

Audience profiling

 


We chose this film as it matches our genre and style of film we're using so it would be a good example, and therefore it would attract similar audience and match the graph above of type and age of audience we would be expecting to watch the film. The Ring is most popular around the ages 15-24, this is because it is older teenagers that would be interested and younger adults too.

Monday, 5 November 2012

Horror film Ideas

Bryony, James, Emma and I have an idea that Emma will be the main character of the 2 minutes at the beginning of our film, walking down a path with wet hair to give the impression shes vulnerable, alone and innocent.
Emma will wear basic casual wear to identify that she is unexpected to an attack, this enhances the fact that it could be any members of the audience which relates to their interest in the film.
Bryony as the camera holder will use effects to scare the audience e.g. Shaking the camera, distance/long shots, close up shots and mise en scene.
 James and I will play small parts in the film but they will be very effective. The scene will have to be set at night to make it more scary and most films are set at then so we're inspired to set it at night.
The camera will be on Emma majority of the time, except for when it's on me briefly as the scary person in the beginning 2 minutes of the film. This is the main part which will grip the viewers and make them want to watch the rest of the film.
We will then use jump cuts towards Emma so it's as if someone is chasing/watching her.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

Hot Fuzz Research and Planning- Comedy





Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action mystery comedy film directed and co-written by Edgar Wright, and co-written and starring Simon Pegg alongside Nick Frost. The three had previously worked together on the television series Spaced and the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead. The film was directed by Wright and produced by Nira Park, and follows two police officers attempting to solve a series of mysterious deaths in a small English village.
The two actors are seen as the most important characters in the film as most camera time is on them, different camera shots are used on them to add affect e.g. Two shot, shot reverse shot, over shoulder shot and others.
The plot of the film is about an extremely dedicated police officer called Nicolas Angel (Simon Pegg), he excels in everything during his duties until he is told to move away to another department due to the Metropolitan Police Service feeling left out on action as he arrests majority of the population that cause crimes and problems. The small village he is moved to is called Sandford, A village which has won the prize for 'village of the year' many times in a row. Sergeant Angel then goes on to make a bond with a fellow worker 'Danny Butterman' (Nick Frost) who nearly ran Sergeant Angel over at their first encounter. Once realising Danny also worked at the station they grew closer after a series of deaths shocked Angel, being staged as 'accidents'. Sergeant Angel interprets these as murders and investigates them to only find out that they are all run and organised by key characters in the film. This twist in the film adds suspense for the viewers and intrigues them to continue watching. It is then a massive investigation for both Nicolas and Danny to arrest all people involved and return the village back to harmony and natural incidents and contents.
 
The bad people named themselves 'The Neighbourhood Watch Alliance' and it consisted of 'Timothy Dalton as Simon Skinner, Edward Woodward as Tom Weaver, Billie Whitelaw as Joyce Cooper, Eric Mason as Bernard Cooper, Stuart Wilson as Dr. Robin Hatcher, Paul Freeman as Rev. Philip Shooter, Kenneth Cranham as James Reaper, Peter Wight as Roy Porter, Julia Deakin as Mary Porter, Patricia Franklin as Annette Roper, Lorraine Hilton as Amanda Paver, Tim Barlow as Mr. Treacher, and Rory McCann as Michael Armstrong. They are all individually arrested after Nicolas and Danny both take on the whole village with gun and violence mayhem and a lot of action is involved. The village is then returned to being run by natural encounters and not by an alliance which are unsure of whats right and whats wrong.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

In our video clip, we used various camera shots e.g. Over shoulder shot, two shot, a slight birds eye view, close up shot, a long angle shot and many different shots. We used mise en scene by using a few props e.g. telephone, and Emma wore smart clothing to suit the scene of the interview. We used very good match on action which helped our video look more professional.
The camera was kept very still very well by Bryony which was good so it wasn't confusing for viewers. We also used the 180 degrees rule so it didn't confuse viewers and they understood where both Emma and I were and that was hadn't switched positions. Our ediding was quite good despite the click of the cut from the scene of the camera, we could have cut it out a few miliseconds before but it's not essential, and there was a point where James disappeared from us cutting the scene too early and we didn't acknowledge it, besides that our cutting was quite good and editing overall was very fluent.
In the video, some of the camera shots were taken from above Me and looking down on Emma, this gives the impression that i'm more important than Emma in the respect that i'm the boss and she would be the interviewee. We used plenty of shot reverse shot which is a basic technique but very affective in these sorts of video clips. Most camera time was spent on Emma which suggests to the viewers that she is the most important and key character in the scene.
Overall I think that our video clip was a good use of all techniques and uses of a camera and we tried very hard to make it as fluent and professional as possible.

Sunday, 14 October 2012

Step Brothers- Research and planning- Comedy


Step Brothers is a 2008 American comedy film starring Will Ferrell and John C Reilly. The screenplay was written by Ferrell and Adam McKay, from a story written by them with Reilly. It was produced by Jimmy Miller and Judd Apatow, and directed by McKay.
The plot of Step Brothers is two middle aged men that still live with their parents at home, Brennen (Will Ferrell) with him mother, and Dale (John C Reilly) with his father. Their parents meet coinscidently and fall in love at the surprise of their similar lifestyles. Both sons are forced to live together and the conflict between them at the start is negative, which relates to the maturity levels of the individuals. Their parents warn them that they must find jobs within a month or else be forced out of the house. When Brennan's younger brother Derek (Adam Scott) comes to visit with his oddly perfect family, he too mocks them and entices Dale to punch him in the face. Brennan is awed that Dale was able to stand up to Derek. Meanwhile, Brennan's sister-in-law Alice (Kathryn Hahn) who is also resentful of Derek, finds Dale's courage a turn on. Brennan and Dale discover their many shared interests and develop a strong personal bond.
The attempts at the job are poor from both Brennen and Dale, and they find themselves only disturbing the relationship of Nancy and Robert (Parents) which results to a divorce. Once this has happened both sons get a job and move on with their lives, Brennen goes and works for his brother Derek, and Dale becomes a chef.
They then meet again at a festival hosted by Brennen as his new job, and the food is cooked by Dale which links the whole family back together as they both invite each of their parents making Nancy and Robert force conversation. The family is then restored through a musical performance from both Dale and Brennen as the band previously set up were forced to leave.

The film contains a lot of mixed humour which many different people can relate and connect to, even the fact that both 40 year old Dale and 39 year old Brennen still live at home with their parents immediately adds a humourous background and start to the film.

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Preliminary Task

In a few lessons of the course, we were told to upload a short entry to a filmand describe it and what you can see in the clip uploaded. We have been learning about various shots and angles of the camera and what effect it discretely has on the audience, we learnt different techniques and styles of these shots e.g. Shoulder shot, Medium shot, Long shot, Two shot etc.

We were lucky to manage to borrow and office that wasn't in use as that would probably be where an interview would take place. We had to keep refliming as we would all be in different clothes and it wouldn't look fluent and would confuse viewers. We also had to refilm as some of the time

We (James, Emma, Bryony and I) chose to do and Interview of me being the interviewer and Emma being the interviewee, James participated earlier in the short video, as Bryony filmed it from different angles and produced different shots. All the lessons we spent making the video came to around 5, which means we spent roughly 5 hours on it, this is included editing as well to cut out all of the problems and faults with our video. We attempted to make the video as realistic as possible by showing emotion of the what the real life situation would look and be like, e.g. Emma feeling nervous and me looking organised and professional.

We decided on doing an interview because we thought we could get the most shots in and more oppertunities to get more marks.


Saving Private Ryan is a film based on World War II, Tom Hanks is the main character and the movie is mainly about walking through occupied France to find a person called Private Ryan. Through the movie you see them risk their lives to find Ryan, who they are sending home because all 3 of his brothers have sadly been killed in action. This cliche happens many times in action movies/war movies, where they are putting their own lives on the line to save one another.

In the first 2 minutes (the scene shown above), we see a war going on between two sides, The Americans and The Germans, This is a cliche in action where there are two sides fighting, expecially in war films such as this. In this opening scene we see blood, blown off limbs and lost companions. This is very common in action films such as this one and this is also a chliche as it is very common in majority of war films.

Research and planning

There is no evidence of research and planning.
Make sure you upload your preliminary task.

You MUST have at least 8-10 posts on here by next Tuesday, including:
- Analysis of at least 4 different genre openings (analyse how mise-en-scene, sound, plot convey genre to audience)
- Preliminary task diary
- Preliminary task evaluation
- own ideas mind map - what genre? plot? etc
- Analysis of at least 2 openings of films from your chosen genre