Targets for G324 (Making A Trailer)

Despite having alot of boundaries, I am very pleased with our completed opening. There were many barriers which we had to overcome, however I feel like we produced a successful opening through the use of camera work and editing. Firstly, we had alot of practice and had learnt alot about the different shots and editing techniques which meant we were able to use and apply them in the correct manor.

I believe that we benefited a lot from doing the preliminary task where we focused on three editing techniques in particular. The first was match on action which we used and applied multiple times throughout the filming process. There was a clear contrast between our preliminary task and the final product showing the progress we had made and further showing the better knowledge. Secondly, we also used shot reverse shot in our film which again was significant as it shows our knowledge of continuity. To improve on this technique in particular, it could have been used a bit more however it was difficult in the plot of our film as there were not alot of point within the film where direct contact was made. Although we learnt alot about the continuity editing techniques, I found that we learnt alot from the preliminary task in terms of preparation. There were many factors which affected the quality of filming. Firstly the timing was not the best as we were given roughly 30 minutes to do the task meaning we did not have alot of takes of each clip meaning we found many errors which could have been avoided if we had more time. From establishing this issue, we ensured that in our final film, we would allow enough time to get the perfect clip. Also lighting was another issue which we established in our preliminary task and this again was primarily due to preparation where we did not find the best area to film as there was not much we could do to alter the lighting. This was something we learnt from and this will be another target for next year when filming our trailer. Further more, there will be many things we would need to consider next year; the first thing being our knowledge of the 180 degree rule which is an element of continuity editing. This was something we struggled with as there was not a specific point in the film where it could have been used. It is typically used during a conversation however there is no dialogue exchanged in our opening.

Also we will need to consider the weather conditions which further leads on to the health and safety of actors. Despite most of our scenes planning out quite well, we feel like the weather conditions are a huge barrier in filming, most definitely when we are outside. In the context of our film, the young girl was laying on the floor and this became a problem on the day as the ground was extremely wet, therefore we had to work with this. We managed to resolve this problem by placing a black plastic bag underneath her meaning was not directly laying on the floor. However, we had to be careful when filming to ensure that this was not exposed, making the film look unprofessional. Although this was not a problem, the weathering would could damage the technology. This would be a problem when filming, as the rain could potentially damage the camera and this would therefore affect the overall outcome. This will be a target for next year where we will consider the timings which we will actually film and we could potentially provide more equipment which could help protect the camera from getting wet or damaged.

A major barrier was the sound. This was important as the quality on the camera wasn't the best due to alot of background noises (such as rain) which made it sound fuzzy.  Next year we will ensure that the conditions we film in are appropriate and allow us to create a successful film. Also, we will ensure that we are using the correct piece of technology which is suitable for filming to a high quality. As a result of the bad quality, we had to delete all of the diegetic sound and then add more sound effects whilst trying to make it seem natural at specific points (for example the car door and the foot steps). Potentially, this will not be the case next year and we will be able to keep all of the ambient, diegetic sound making it seem more natural whilst adding the odd sound effect, such as a thud, conforming to the horror genre conventions.

Lastly, the final target would be filming things more than once. This was an issue as some of the most significant points in the film had errors and we had only filmed them once meaning we had to work with it and make changes using the software which may not have looked or planned out as expected. Next year, we will ensure that we have filmed each clip multiple times in order to have the best quality film with no errors. This will be done to our advantage as we spent alot of time trying to perfect specific shots and clips where we could have been focusing on something else. Although we managed to overcome this barrier, it is important that it does not happen again next year when filming our trailer.

Audience Feedback

"I thought it was clever how the girl was wearing a white gown as it meant that the blood showed up more"

^This was a key focus when contrasting colours, the colour of the dress has many connotations such as innocence, vulnerability and shallowness reinforcing the young girl as a character and the fact that she is only a child and these are the stereotypes of that particular age group. As well as this the white gown majorly revealed the blood making the audience immediately notice and would therefore be more engaged in the situation.^

"It was really smart how they focused on the girls hand"

^I am pleased that this point of the film was noticed as it was a minor event however this was where we used the special effect which reversed the movement of her hand making it look unnatural.^

"I like the use of the creepy, childish music at the end"

^This was significant as it was used to reinforce the stereotype of the girl being a child and therefore, vulnerable^

"I felt they could have increased the use of ambient sound at the start"

^Overall there was not much sound (apart from footsteps and car door) at the start until the point where the young girl was revealed to create a tense atmosphere. however this could be improved through the camera quality where we had to cut out all diegetic sound.^

Evaluation Presentation

Evaluation Activity 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Having completed our opening, I feel like we have made huge improvements, whether this is having a better knowledge of the editing skills and techniques or whether it is the amount of times we have showed this knowledge throughout the opening. Despite the difference between our preliminary task and our final product, I feel like we have made huge progress and we have been able to apply everything we previously learnt into the film making it the best possible .

There are multiple differences between our preliminary task and our final product; and this was mainly down to preparation. The preliminary task was something we were given to do on the spot, testing our knowledge of the continuity editing techniques. As evident in the screenshots below and as stated, the quality was not the best as we were given a basic hand held camera which did not have a good focus making many of the shots fuzzy. Another key factor was timing; for our preliminary task we were only given roughly 30 minutes which meant alot of things were rushed and we did not film things more than once which is very important in film to ensure you adopt no errors. We learnt and remembered this in our final filming for the opening two minutes however this was a target, to film multiple clips more than once. The lighting also was not good quality as we did not have alot of choice as we were in the school environment where there was not alot we could have changed. As evidently shown in the screen captures below, in our final, we used an outside location which meant we didn't primarily need to focus on providing efficient lighting as we heavily relied on daylight and also street lights. However for our preliminary task this was different as we did not have alot of planning and therefore, we chose a location of the school which was easiest to access meaning the sources of lighting weren't great and the camera quality was not used to our advantage. We learnt from this in our final opening and ensured we planned further ahead which would allow us to film to the best quality and not having to worry about things such as lighting and timing. 

MATCH ON ACTION:

The screenshots above are from our preliminary task and our final opening. They both show an element of continuity editing which is Match-on-action. Match on action is the technique of one shot cutting to another, from a different angle, showing the action of the subject. By carrying the action through using this technique creates some sort of connection or bridge which makes the audience more engaged and focusing on the action itself rather than the cutting of it. In our preliminary task, we attempted to use match on action multiple times when reaching potential barriers, such as walking down through a door and turning a corner. This element of editing is important as it allows us to capture a moment/shot from two different angles whilst creating a smooth flowing shot which drifts the audience away from the cutting. When doing our preliminary task, we used a GE1080P hand held camera. This was just a basic camera which didn't have a very high resolution or many mega-pixels, this meant that the quality was not the best and some of the footage came out blurry. As shown above the quality was not as good, the close up of the hand was of a decent quality however it was much more difficult to precisely capture the long and medium shots. Again, as shown in the screen capture above, the medium shot of Hollie walking through the door was not good quality and this therefore affected the editing techniques as it was not clear and didn't run as smoothly as expected. Another key aspect of the camera we used was the sound which again wasn't very good quality. From all of the barriers we found when doing our preliminary task, we learnt alot and were then able to make improvements in our final product.

When filming our opening scene, we used a Nikon L180 camera which had a much higher resolution and focus meaning the match on action technique ran smoothly. We used match on action multiple times in our opening; the two screenshots above show this where we performed the technique as the character stepped out of the car. The first shot we used was a medium shot revealing the door as it was opened and the action that was about to be made; we then cut to a close up of the man's foot. This cutting ran smoothly and you weren't actually able to identify the cut as it did not look messy. 

SHOT REVERSE SHOT:
This was another editing technique which we used in our preliminary task and improved on in our final product. It is common that this technique is used during a conversation as we presented in our preliminary task. Although we applied the editing technique in that task, having used it in our final product, i believe that it was not the best that it could have been. As previously said, we used a GE1080P hand held camera which was not the best quality; this meant that the shots were not very clear. Further more, we hadn't used the editing software (Adobe Premier Elements) before meaning we weren't able to create a clean cut which meant that the editing technique was not used to our advantage. However, in our final production, we had alot of practice in both learning the different techniques and also using the editing software. The screenshots above show the difference between our preliminary task and the final product where the quality is much better and how there is clear evidence of eyeline match which is the aim with a shot reverse shot. The aim of this technique is mainly to show the connection between two characters and the direct contact, evidently shown in above in our final product where the male character is looking directly down at Robyn.

Overall, I feel like we benefited alot from doing the preliminary task as it was good practice for later applying the continuity editing techniques to our film. I also believe that this can be further developed next year when creating a trailer. The continuity techniques are very important in film and are things that viewers dont notice however they make the film more effective; and also show the high knowledge that a person has of film and editing.

Evaluation Activity 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When filming and editing, I learnt alot about technologies. Firstly, for our filming we used a Nikon L810 camera which was a high resolution camera which allowed us to film to a good quality. I had not previously used a camera like this before and it was therefore all new to me. However, this did not become a huge problem, as the camera was easy to use and there was no problems with filming. The camera had many features, such as optical zoom 26x, clear video recording HD (720P), high resolution and timer. All of these features allowed us to film to the best quality however, we learnt that there were quite a few barriers which we now know to consider next time. The camera we used is not particularly used for filming which meant that specific things, such as sound were not the best. In all of our clips, the sound was quite fuzzy and therefore when putting it all together, we had to delete all of the sound as it did not sound good. This was primarily due to the weather conditions and the fact that we were filming outside meant that there were alot of natural sounds such as trees rustling. Despite the barrier, the camera was not the best one to use to film our opening and therefore we had to alter alot of things to make it sound and look better. 

The camera fitted well on the tripod which allowed us to have a good focus and not to worry about holding still when capturing specific shots; however we did not use the tripod the whole time as it was an aim to film hand held, making the shot look uneasy, possibly at a canted angle. Despite doing that, the tripod allowed us to capture many shots at different heights and angles whilst keeping a steady feel.

Overall with the camera, I learnt that specific technologies are not built to carry out alot of processes such as capturing good quality images and also filming to a high standard. The camera we used is most commonly used to take good quality images and therefore we did not film to the best possible. 

IPhone 6/6S

This was another piece of technology that we used along the filming process. This was not used at all for any filming however we used it alot throughout to capture the progression through the filming. As shown in the two images on the left, we were able to capture good quality images which revealed us filming as well as the location around us. I believe this is important to the build up of our film as we are then able to produce video diaries as well as presenting a few shots of things going on behind the scenes before we officially publish the film. The images we have taken are primarily of us, as the people filming, using the different technologies. When posting these images, we ensured that there were no shots majorly revealing the plot of the film which further builds up suspense as there may be specific things that will engage them and make them want to watch.

Adobe Premier Elements/Youtube

One of the last elements of technology we used was the editing software, Adobe Premier Elements. This was something that was extremely new to me as it is not something that is accessible by everyone. Typically, to create a movie or to combine clips, we would use movie maker which simply does the job. However Adobe Premier Elements provides multiple tools that allowed us to make our film the best possible and to further make it appealing to the audience. There is a major difference between movie maker and the software we used, firstly being that the tools are much more technical on Adobe Premier Elements and aim to make the film as professional as possible. When editing in the future, I will recognise this software and will most probably use it as it gives the professional look that we would want when distributing the film.

Finally we  used YouTube to publish our Final Film, along with all the other clips, such as interviews and the preliminary task. This is important in the marketing campaign as it would hugely attract a wider audience, and would therefore cause more people to watch, increasing the status of the film.

Evaluation Activity 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To do this, we used the annotation tools on YouTube whilst commenting on the shots we used, connotations, relation to the horror genre and how we engage the audience.

Evaluation Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

When doing our audience research we made a decision to aim our opening at people aged 15-25. We found that this audience range has the most interest in the horror genre and it is very often that this particular age group has more of an interest in film overall. By aiming at this age group we believe that our opening will engage a wide audience and would therefore have a lot of success in the distribution of the film. It is prominently found that the characters in a film play a big role with engaging the range of particular age groups; for example in a horror film where there is a group of teenagers, it is likely that the age group interested in that would be of the same ages as they would be more likely to relate. We think that we will attract our intended audience as we done a lot of genre research and aimed to follow alot of conventions and themes which feature in the most popular horror films.

This particular age group would have many different interests. It is often that the female audience would be more interested in the typical romantic-comedy film where there is a love story and a broken relationship; this is for the reason that teenage girls often experience this and may feel like they could relate. They would most likely shop in top brands such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and River Island or alternatively they may be more attracted to places like Primark, H&M and New Look. Females of this age group would be heavily interested in celebrities, chick-flicks and love which isn't something a horror provides. Although, the female character in our film may have the potential to attract the female audience. Alternatively, the male audience would most likely be interested in this type of film as it slightly contains violence where there is a hit and run which would be influenced by the latest technology which involve Xbox and PlayStation games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto (GTA); and also it is common that men have more of an interest to being scared which is obviously the aim in a horror film.

During the planning and research for our film, we created a questionnaire which involved many questions based around the horror genre. The first, which was 'What is your favourite genre of horror'; the most voted one was Mainstream Horror which involves alot of natural/conventional events. Another question we asked was 'Which genre would you combine with a horror'; the most voted for this one was action. Based on these results and the questionnaire as a whole, we majorly considered what the audience would like the most and this allowed us to meet all of there expectations. This was successful by including a car and a minor hit and run which is extremely conventional of an action film.

To conclude, the questionnaire and the general expectations of a horror allowed us to successfully meet our intended audience. This was done through the occurrence of conventional events along with the camera work and editing skills that can hugely engage the audience.

Evaluation Activity 3

What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?
DIRECTORS COMMENTARY

"Our film commences with a production credit featuring our conceived institution- BLACKWIND PICTURES. The appellation ‘BLACKWIND PICTURES’ is conventional of typical horror distribution companies linking to the likes of twisted pictures with its name, and Blumhouse pictures with its grunge monochrome colour scheme. The smear transition and sound motif alongside the institution reinforce the company’s prominence in distribution, an intent we would have for any genuine company independently distributing our film.

A black screen instigates our film, conventional of the majority of horror movies because it gives a pause for the audience to detach themselves from the reality of the real world with the titles and institutions and encase themselves within the fictional world of our film.

The first accreditation for an actor in our movie appears just after a match action shot after our protagonist has descended from the car. The font style remains constant throughout and fits in with the horror colour connotations using only white representative of ashen, morbidity and shallowness. The credits we use also have limited screen time to ensure they do not disrupt our films continuity.

Our favoured camera shots are those that depict the young girls blood stained face- framed twice in our opening with close up shots; one following an eye line match which creates a relation with the characters even more. We especially liked these particular shots because conventionally they pose links to other similar horrors like Annabelle, Orphan and Carrie which use the same camera techniques. The gruesome make-up used as part of mise-en-scene for the young girls face was curated with a cheap technique, further enforcing the small budget of our independent film aiming to still potentially create a large budget inspired by similar films such as Paranormal activity or attack the block.

Some of our credits used appear straight after dramatic moments of the opening such as the girl’s face being seen for the first time, the man walking away from the crime scene intentionally to give eminence and accreditation to the producers, actors and distributors for the intense prominent film and its key moments.

Throughout the film, a chilling ambient sound plays-reinforcing the disturbing conventional atmosphere and giving the film depth. The ambience sounds as if the filming takes place in a desolate area where the sound of the wind is protuberant which is further coincided thuds that give the girls actions and parts of the film focused distinction.

For the scene where our antagonist male is in the car, a warped radio tune hums in the car which is similar to ‘tiptoe through the tulips’ used in Insidious as a unnerving rendition. This diegetic sound links the man in the film with reality whilst the non-diegetic yet synchronous thuds that follow the girls actions separate her from reality and make her presence feel almost unreal and unsettling.

Our purposeful use of natural lighting and the transition in the film from light to dark as an ellipsis of time has been used almost reinforces the transition of life to death for the young girl…a process considered conventionally in many horrors. The darkness also adds shadows to our movie, and by not using artificial lighting and spotlighting our film maintains a more convincing feel.

The technique of assembling our movie opening so our film title comes right at the end imposes further that this opening is designated to be the introduction to a similarly themed course of events throughout the full length movie. Also, it keeps the audience in anticipation throughout…building up tension for the name of the girl and the titles purpose to be revealed. The soundtrack used alongside the title exposure is warped childish music fitting with the child horror based course of events, this music would be a recognisable sound that defines our film and would potentially be used in the trailer as well as the movie itself. "

Evaluation feedback.

Sophie - have a look at charlotteclarkg321.blogspot.com and evepattersong321.blogspot.com to see examples of a grade evaluations.  What questions have they asked of themselves and their work that you can?  Note the level of analysis in their very strong approaches.

 

In your responses to your final production make sure you are clearly referring to choices and outcomes in an evaluative way - make sure you are addressing the areas outlined by me below:

What did you do? Explain a transition or effect you opted for in the editing process.  What effect did you achieve?  Explain how the choice you made was intended to make the target audience think or feel.  How does this show progression in your use of skills? Explain how this is better than your AS production's outcomes by linking to what you did in your portfolio last year.

These choices are really important for you to reflect on to show you fully understand how you have developed your skills - and make sure you evaluate the comments made by the test audience (the class) using specialist terminology.

We do not have long until the deadline, Easter Monday, for this final stage of your portfolio - so make sure you are pushing yourself and achieving the marks your efforts this year deserve!

Evaluation Activity 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The main character in our film supposedly turns out to be the young girl and she was therefore our main focus when representing particular social groups. We researched multiple films in which we could compare Robyn, our main character, too and who would most relate to her role within the opening. The images on the left hand side are screen captures from two significant parts of the opening where Robyn appears. The two images on the right are of the the girl from The Grudge, which is a horror/thriller film based around a curse which causes people to die whilst a new curse is born. Although the plot of the films are different, we felt that the characters had a lot of relation and when researching, The Grudge was one of our film inspirations to introduce a young grudge like girl.The top two screenshots both have a similar aim through scaring the audience as well as other characters. We felt like these two characters could relate through their appearance where they are both dressed in the white nightie/dress, again showing how they could be portrayed as being innocent and vulnerable; in comparison the two close ups above show how they appear as a threat and how the impact they intend to have on the audience is negative.

They both are involved in dramatic events; however in our film Robyn is given the most prevalence making us, as the audience, notice her more however this is often different in other horrors where they only appear at unexpected times to scare the audience a lot more as recognised in The Grudge. Although we are able to relate our characters with there role in the film and there appearance, they are shown at different points/stages in the film and in some cases, not so often as others. We feel like both characters could appeal to a wide audience and particular social groups. For example, the female audience would be engaged by this and may feel like they could relate and sympathise for them much more with being the same gender. In contrast the male audience may be interested as it is often found that in horror, younger characters are shown to be at more of a threat and therefore those who enjoy this type of horror would be influenced to watch it.

Similarly, both films follow the conventions of a horror location. In our film, the location is in a quite, derelict area with nothing around which has more of an eerie feel to it. In contrast, The Grudge is primarily set in a house which is supposedly haunted. Both relate to horror conventions and can realistically have an impact on particular social groups and audiences. For example, those who spend alot of time at home may be engaged by this as it is a typical thing to do and is a place where you feel safe. Ironically, this is shown to be different in The Grudge where people are affected in there homely environment therefore scaring the audience much more. However in our film, the outdoor location suggest how there would be passers by and things would be recognised although the area is unknown and there are not alot of people around again making it more daunting and making the audience worry more about the location they may be in.

In film, it is most important when representing particular groups and audiences and this is most shown through the appearance of a character as well as there role in the film and costumes in particular. Costume is a part of mis-en-scene which is significant as different representations of characters can engage different audiences and groups. In our film, Robyn is originally portrayed as being innocent and vulnerable through her appearance/costume. This would conform to the stereotypes of younger children/teens and our film therefore represents them allowing the age group to be sympathised for by the audience. There are many different stereotypes in film which revolve around different things, such as appearance, and this therefore reflects on the media and audience and the way they view the different characters.

Evaluation Activity 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e film openings)

Frame 1 is our title, We feel like this conforms to our horror genre because of the white text font on the black background which is effective with its dark colours and is often used in horror films to present negativity. The sketch font style is also effective as it partially relates to a childlike theme as our main character is of a younger age.

The second frame partially shows our location which was quite derelict and hidden away. This was off road as we felt that it was safer, especially for the young girl who had to lie on the ground. We believe that our film location follows the expectations and conventions of the horror genre. There are many different location expectations in a horror and most of them being in derelict, dark areas. This makes it more daunting for the audience and has more success in captivating them. The second frame was the shot that revealed the location the most where a long shot was used when the man was walking back to his car. As shown, the location is quite narrow and derelict with no-one or anything in sight. This was the main reason for the choice of location and also because we wanted it to follow the horror conventions/expectations. 

The third frame reveals the costume/clothing of the young girl who is primarily the main character. As shown in the screen capture, she is dressed in a white nightie/dress which particularly reveals the ominous red colour of blood. The shot used here was actually a point of view where the man looked down at the young girl as she laid there. I think that the costumes of the character fit in quite well with the horror genre with both representing there character and how they want to be seen. For example it is often that the young girl was presented being innocent and vulnerable whereas we don't supposedly meet the character or have an understanding of what she was like. The expectations of costume in a horror genre alternate and can often present positivity and what the character is like or in comparison, they could be dressed in a way that makes the audience turn against them simply because of the way they may look. In our film, we feel like we fit the expectations as the young girl is dressed in a way that we sympathise for her with her night-time clothing and with the man dressed in work clothing again simply suggesting how it was unintentional and it was just an accident.

The fourth frame shows a part example of where we used match on action. This was a significant part of our editing process as this editing technique acts as a bridge between the two shots and connects them making the audience more engaged and focused on the shot itself rather than the cutting of it. We used a lot of match on action throughout to make a smooth cut between the two shots which makes the audience more attentive and therefore when the film builds up to the climax it would be more unexpected and would therefore scare the audience more which is the main focus in a horror film.

The fifth frame represents the beginning of the opening and partially sets the story as we find out the man has hit the young girl. This isn't realistically conventional of a horror however that is how we intend to shock the audience as they may not expect a hit and run to turn into a horror. In the fifth frame, we used a two shot from behind, revealing the man standing over someone who we are yet to be introduced too. The opening sets up the story through its conventional location and the daunting non-diegetic sound. We felt that the frame above set the story as it was the first shot which actually set an idea of what could happen next.

At the very start of the opening, there isn't much that suggests the genre as there aren't many horror conventions. However at the point of the sixth frame, the conventions begin with the young girl supposedly coming back to life which although isn't very realistic, it would extremely scare the audience which is the key focus. That particular point in the opening is also very unexpected and there was a buildup which lead to it again causing more of a shock for the audience. We feel like this indicates the genre as it is conventional of a horror to contain blood and gore; also another key element that confirmed the genre was the non-diegetic sounds which add more effect to specific moments, for example when the girl opens her eyes. As well as this being a sudden shock, the close up and the loud non-diegetic thud adds more effect and therefore scares the audience much more than expected. The range of close-ups again helps demonstrate the genre as in frame 6, it is close up to her face which makes the audience focus much more and when the unexpected occurs, the audience would be even more terrified.

Frame 7 shows the first shot where we are introduced face-to-face with the first character. The immediate assumption of this character would be negative as we weren't formally introduced to the young girl on the floor and therefore we would sympathise for her as she is supposedly the victim. When the man moves the girl to the side of the road, it represents his character as being weak and vulnerable as he isn't owning up to what he has done. The first shot of the young girl is quite graphic as she is covered in blood and again we sympathise for her character and the fact that she is young, we believe that she is innocent. However, nearer to the end of the opening, the young girls character come backs to life and has some sort of plan against the man that hit her. At this point we partially panic for the man as we are left unknown to what is going to happen to him.

The eighth and ninth frame represent the special affects that we used in our film. To edit our film, we used the Adobe Premier Elements software which provided us with many tools to make specific shots and clips within the film look more effective and in some cases, more unrealistic. The eighth frame show the girl as she got back up and supposedly came back to life At this point we used the cutting tool multiple times making it look quite agitated. This was done for effect to make it look like more of a struggle and make it seem as if it wasn't quite so real. The ninth frame is a very significant point in our film however it is not extremely noticeable. When the girl woke up she looked down at her hand and we were revealed a close up shot of her hand and the movement. We used the reverse tool to make the movement of her hand look unrealistic. The software we used allowed us to make multiple changes for affect and to partially confuse the audience as they would be unsure of how the action happened and there would therefore be more engagement to find out. 

Final institutions

Above are a couple of screen captures of our final institutions. As you can see we have used dark colours as our film is a horror. Again, the software we used to create our institutions was Adobe Premiere Elements which we found the most efficient for many reasons. We managed to add these into the start of our film so that it would all play as one rather than having them separately. The title of the institution was our own and we managed to think of one which linked with our images in the background.

The Ring - Opening scene (analysis)

The film begins with a young school girl as presumed by her clothing. Clothing is a part of mis-en-scene and is very important in representation of characters. The teen is dressed in a white t-shirt and a grey skirt. The first acknowledgement is shown through a side on mid shot and as she begins to walk away from the kitchen side, in the background through the glass window, a light flashes on which we can assume is her television. The noise along side this shot was fuzzing, suggesting the television had no signal or something was wrong. Followed from this, the girl immediately reacted and stood still as we could here the diegetic sound of her gasping breath. As the audience, we can tell that she was in utter shock and slowly moved her drink downwards followed by the close up shot which revealed her turning her head to see what the sound was. The close up revealed her facial expression, and we could identify how she was unsure of what was going on and was extremely scared. And again we could assume that she was alone in the house which was more daunting for the audience. The slow panning movement of the camera round the corner was significant as it makes the audience feel as if something might jump out or that there is someone watching her. The fuzzy televisions screen is then revealed through the girls point of view. The camera then switches to a mid shot which shows the young girl shocked again as there was no one there that could have possibly switched on the television.

She then looks around and says "quit being a bitch where's the remote". She quietens down when she says 'remote' as she notices where they are. The camera then focuses on the sofa which looks as if someone had been sitting there and placed them in that exact spot. She then grabs them and switches it off. At this point, the sound of the television stopped and we could here the diegetic sound of the rain on the window ledge. She then walks away and as the audience we think its done now and that it wouldn't come back on however as she walks away, the fuzzy sound reappears and the television is back on. Shown through a medium shot, we see the girl slowly turn back around in shock again as she has no clue who's doing it. The camera slowly pans towards the girl as if someone is getting closer to her. She looks to the side of her and shouts "Becca quit it"; at this point we are unsure of what is going on as if someone else was in the house to begin with or the young girl just wants to assume it is a friend of hers. She runs over to the television and the camera is side on revealing the fuzzy screen and the girls face as she stares directly at it . The noise of the TV continues as we can hear the diegetic gasping sound repetitively of the girl as she is getting more and more scared. She eventually yanks out the television lead and the screen goes black and the sound stops. She then looks into the black screen and we are able to notice her reflection and in the background of the reflection, there was a shadow that ran across the kitchen. She quickly turned around and pushed up against the screen and the point of view shot revealed nothing but the glass panels and the faint view of the kitchen. She walks slowly into the kitchen and the medium shot reveals the young girls face as she notices something else. The camera switches and we are shown the fridge door slowly opening with no one there. She then runs quickly again and slams the door shut and continues to take deep breaths.

We are then shown a high angle shot from the top of the stairs which is affective as it has many connotations. There could possibly be someone standing up there which we are unsure of or alternatively it could show power and dominance of a character who is yet to be revealed. There is a non diegetic sound dragging on in the background and as the girl appears round the corner, we are able to here the diegetic sound of her deeply breathing. She then says "Becca can you hear me"; earlier on in the film she used the same name however as the audience we are unsure as to whether Becca is in the house or if she was meant to be there or even if it is who the young girl wants it to be. She then runs up the stairs and there is a use of match on action as she reaches half way the camera moves to show her feet from side on. As she reaches the top of the stairs, there is a low angle shot used from the opposite end of the corridor. We are able to hear fast-paced thuds which build up tension for the audience. The floor is covered in water and as the girl notices, she slowly walks over. The assumption is that she may have left the tap running as the water is coming out of one room in particular however this is possibly not the case as she looked in shock as if she had not been upstairs or touched the taps. As the girl continues to walk slowly, we are able to here the diegetic sounds of her footsteps in the puddled water. The camera then moves to a close up of the girl as her facial expressions reveal how she is extemely scared and is look down in expectancy to see who she hopes is her friend. The camera moves to a close up of the door handle which is dripping off water and the girls hand slowly moves towards it again building up tension for the audience as we don't know what to expect. The girl takes a deep breath then bursts open the door to find her television is on. At this stage the camera pans quickly in as we here a loud scream and as the camera reaches her face the fuzzy screen appears and it ends.

Practise institutions

Above is a short clip of our practice institutions. We didn't use these as our final institutions however we decided on doing a few trials to ensure that our final was the best possible. We filmed this short clip of our phone as we wanted to show the background of the software we were using. We struggled slightly with doing this as we wanted it to be as realistic as possible and be like normal institutions are. To do this, again we used the Adobe Premiere Elements Software which allowed us to edit the images or clips and add transitions and also sound if needed. We thought of all the well known institution such as Warner Brothers or Universal Pictures and eventually came up with a title which we thought was original and was not replicating anything else.

Shots used in our film

We have used low angle shots in our film as they have multiple connotations. At this point in the film (images above) the audience did not know who character was and what they had done and for this reason we though it would be a good idea to use low angle shots which don't reveal there whole identity. This is kept as an enigma. Also low angle shots can show dominance and power that one character may have and in this case, who we can assume is a man is in control. Alternatively, we could make the assumption that it is a point of view and that someone may be below him. As the genre is a horror, it is often that is some sort of mythical creature or something like a ghost however we are unsure as nothing has been shown or evident.

We have used few long shots in our opening two minutes however the few we have used are fairly significant. The image on the left shows the car driving away which realistically we could think is the end and nothing more could happen however followed by this the young girl comes back to life which would scare the audience massively as it must have been very unexpected. The long shot on the right is one of the final shots showing the young girl and we are faintly able to identify the evil look in her eye. This shot is significant as after dramatically scaring the man who supposedly killed her, she is standing on the side of the road; as the audience we are completely unaware of what she may have done to the man and what may happen next. The non-diegetic tune playing alongside this shot is quite eerie for the audience and following on with this is a loud thud which again scares the audience and leaves them on the edge waiting to see what happens next.

We have used quite a few medium shots in our film as it was often that we were just revealing body language rather than the face of the antagonist. The two shots above are significant as they reveal the body language of both characters. This particular stage of the film shows the man as he realises what he has actually done. The first image on the left shows the man as he looks down upon the girl and the was he is standing suggests how he is shocked and is unsure of what to do as there is no movement. The second image shows the positioning of the young girl on the ground and again the man, who is towering over her. This shot would also be a two shot as it is showing both characters. 

Both shots above follow on from each other and are an example of eye line match. This shot technique was significant at this stage of the film. Although this can often be shown through a point of view shot, this is more specific as stated in the shot name, 'eye line', the man is looking directly at the girls face. Possibly suggesting that he is tying to look if she is still alive or if her eyes are moving. 

Close ups are very important in film as they reveal the action/shot in more detail. For example, when focusing on the face, it reveals facial expressions and in this case, more detail on the cuts and bruises. Also, close ups have more of an effect and are more likely to scare the audience. The screen capture on the left is a big stage in the opening two minutes and i think that the close up has more of an impact as it is very unexpected after the audience must have thought she was dead. Along with this shot on the left there is a loud non diegetic thud which again makes it more daunting for the audience as they must be focusing on the face as that was the only thing on the screen. 

Match on action is a form of continuity editing. This editing technique involves cutting from one shot to another showing the same action however, through a different shot and/or angle. The action carrying through creates a bridge between the two which could possibly draw the audience attention away from the cutting. It is often that the camera moves from a close up to a mid shot as both are clear enough to identify the action made.

We didn't use this shot alot in our opening however when we did it was a significant point in the film. The images above are further in the opening where he is in his car and left the girl on the side on the road not knowing what was happening behind the camera. This shot was used to show the action being made, however not actually showing his identity. An alternative interpretation of this would be that someone is behind the character, although they could be unaware. This shot allows the auidence to view what the character sees from his perspective. Although we could use a point of view shot, this shot allows the audience an insight into what the character sees as well as revealing his partial body language.

Final-Opening two minutes

Title Research

We done a lot of research on our title as we originally struggled to think of something. We thought of having something in relevance to a young girl as she was our main focus. We had a few title inspirations which we thought we could link with our idea.

The first inspiration was 'The Grudge'. This film is a horror and the storyline is focused on an eerie looking girl who is presented as a curse throughout. Although this is not necessarily the case in our film, we thought that there was some relevance as our main character was an eerie looking young girl who haunts the man who supposedly killed her. The design of this title is significant as the writing is bold on a dark background. The colour of the text has many negative connotations such as blood, pain, death, etc.

By seeing this title, we made a few decisions on how we would present it; for example, font, colour, style, size, etc.

'The Ring' was another title inspiration. This is another horror film which we thought linked with our film through its title presentation. We thought that the way the title was presented inside a ring, as evident through its title, was quite effective as there was obviously a clear link between the background image at the title name itself. After seeing this, because we have a car involved in our film, we thought that it could possibly be a good idea having the title of the film projected of the car headlight. Again we thought this would be affective as it would symbolise the main prop in our film however the title would be displayed at the same time. The obscure colours connote evil, death and darkness which are good connotations within a horror film as the aim is to scare the audience which those certainly will. Also, the font of the text is significant as, personally, I think it looks fairly childish having no capital letters and also the letters are very spaced out again suggesting how the person may be unable to write. This would have a clear link again with our film as our main character is a young girl which we could therefore relate to the childlike font. 

Audience interview-HARRY

Character interview-ROBYN

Character interview-COLIN

Personal interview-HOLLIE

Personal interview-SOPHIE

Post-film Questions

1. Why did you choose the horror genre?
2. What did you find the hardest part of the filming process?
3. How well do you think the characters fitted in with their surroundings/location?
4. How have you used elements of sound in your film?
   DIEGETIC/NON-DIEGETIC 
5. What are your likes and dislikes on the editing software?
   ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS
6. When filming, were there any barriers or problems and how did you work with them?
7. Why did you choose the location you did?
8. How did you work well as a filming team?
9. How do you think is film stands out from others?

Above are questions which we asked ourselves. We thought that these might be questions that the audience may want to find out and were the most important to guide them through our film. A short clip will be followed after this of our interviews.

Question 4 of Questionare

We decided that this was the most important question in our questionnaire as it actually helped us along the process as we were yet to decide on what kind of sound to add. This was again important as we originally decided to remove all of the diegetic sound such as footsteps, car doors, etc. This is because of the interference of wind and bad weather which made the sound quite fuzzy. For this reason, we needed to really consider the quality of the sound effects and the voice overs (if we were to have any). The most popular sound effect was the sound of young children singing, this is because young children are more eerie in horror films; you do not usually expect young children to appear in conflict and horror themed scenes.

Scipt

• The camera pans round from along shot showing the side view of a silver car
• The car door is opened and the close up/low angle shot shows the man shoes as he steps out of the car
• The man walks around and looks at his car, at this point a mid/long shot is used followed by a match on action shot where the camera moves to the back of him
• The man stops when he sees the girl that he has hit
• Eye line match is used showing how he is looking at her followed by a close up revealing the young girls identity and the cuts and blood
• The man is shown again and the quick cuts show panic and confusion
• He has a look of urgency as he tries to lift the girl and place her down else where to cover up what he has done
• He places her down on the side of the road and slowly walks away
• He looks around to see if anyone has seen what he has just done
• Once he gets back to the car, he opens the door where match on action is used showing his hand and the door as it opens
• He leans in and pulls out a bottle of vodka and drinks some
• As he reverses the car to drive away, he runs back over the young girl to make sure that she is not coming back
• He then continues to slowly drive away but stops further down the road
• At this stage the cameras go back to the young girl
• A high angle/close up shot reveals her as she eventually opens her eyes again
• Match on action is used again as she moves her hands slowly
• She then sits up and gradually stands up
• The cameras refer back to the man who is further down the road
• The side on close up reveals him having another swig of the vodka whilst the -non-diegetic sound of radio music is playing 
• Behind is car is the young girl walking towards him
• She is shown through his mirror staggering slowly towards the car
• The man is unaware of this as he thinks she was dead
• Whilst the man has another swig of the vodka the girl slams up against the car
• The film finishes when the car drives away with the girl standing on the side of the road

Representation and Stereotyping in our Film

What is a Horror?

The horror genre has the intentions to frighten, scar or to haunt the audience by including some graphic or possibly unrealistic scenes which are shown in a believable way. Horror films often have fast-paced movement to build up tension and again, to scare the audience. There are many stereotypes and representations you would expect in a Horror which are shown below.

Clothing (mis-en-scene)

When thinking about representation and stereotypes, the costume was the main thing to consider as your appearance has a large impact on the way your character is perceived throughout the film. For Robyn (the young girl), we wanted her to have that look of innocence. For this reason, we chose to dress her in an old fashioned dress/nightie, which could represent childhood and a time-worn theme. And again the colour could symbolize innocence, purity and goodness. Although she is not initially shown as that kind of character, we want the audience to believe that and think positively; meaning that later on in the film, it will come as more of a shock and possibly scare them which realistically is the aim in a horror film.

However, the representation of our second character is different as we want the audience to believe that he is the villain. For this reason, the clothing we decided on was tracksuit bottoms with a work-style jacket and top, along with the hat. The hat, in fact, was used to make the character more discreet as we did not want to reveal his identity. Stereotypically, you would assume that the character is off the lower/working class.

Editing

In horror films you would expect to see alot of jump cuts to show uncertainty and to partially scare the audience by cutting quickly from one place to another; jump cuts can often be done at different angles to show a specific feature or area. This often makes the audience more engaged as they are awaiting a climax point to be revealed, where they can see something clearly rather than seconds of it. Jump cuts can have a negative representation on a character as for example, they could be shown at different angles and the fast-paced camera movement could signify many things such as urgency and panic which could suggest that something bad has been done.Another editing technique that you may see in a horror film would be cross-cutting, where the camera cuts between two situations that are happening simultaneously. This builds up tension as you would, again, stereotypically expect a tipping point where something bad happens. This is significant as it engages the audience and makes them want to watch on.

Conventions

- Fast-paced camera movement

- Jump Cuts

- Villain 

- Deaths

- Blood (gore)

- Eerie music/sound track

- Dramatic endings

Sound

Sound is significant in horror films as you would often expect non-diegetic sound as it builds up tension and makes it more scary for the audience. Although you would often expect to hear the eerie diegetic sounds, for example of a door creaking or someone screaming and these kind of sounds are important as they make the situation more realistic.

Location

Stereotypically, you would expect the location to be derelict, possibly in dark streets and narrow alleyways. These kind of areas have the representation of danger and characters often go there at their own risk. In many horror films you would see the typical abandoned house location or alternatively they would be in a completely isolated area where nobody knew about.

Title font research

Questionnaire results 2

Our fifth question is represented using a bar chart as it would be more difficult to read otherwise because it is not something we can show clearly through percentages. This question was based around our location and partially the timing we would do it at. The usual expectations of a horror tends to be in an abandoned house which does trigger a fright however again we thought we would choose something different and work on making it thrilling for the audience. We ended up deciding filming in an abandoned/derelict area which meant we had to consider many things  such as the weather (as it was outside) and the public.

Our sixth question was quite important as the blood was a significant focus throughout. Rather than using the normal 'fake blood', we made our own using different ingredients which meant we were able to easily change the texture and color of it ourselves. This question had four options which we thought were most likely to be the case. The highest percentages were for the blood looking realistic and seeing close ups of the wounds a fatalities. We took this into consideration and used both in our film; because of the realistic blood, we were able to do close ups of the wounds as the audience would most likely think it was real which is what we want them to do as the whole genre of horror is meant to scare the audience and haunt them.

This was our seventh question, which again we decided on, in relation to our final idea. We thought that to make it more realistic and not so highly age rated, we wanted to include a few conventions of another genre. The chart above shows how action would combine best with the horror genre. In our opening scene,we have used one convention of action which was the car and was somewhat a hit and run. To add to this, we ensured that the horror convention was to a higher level and that it would immediately scare the audience and have them on the edge of there seats; we used the idea of coming back to life which although inst very realistic, it is something which would scare the audience and make them believe otherwise.

This was our final question, which we also thought was very important as the anamatic is an important part to the build up of our film. We asked the audience to rate specific aspects of the anamatic out of 5; we thought that by doing this, we would be able to build upon our ideas and make them better in the real thing.

Questionnaire results 1

This was our first question which we decided on, as our film is a horror. Although we were already set on the mainstream horror genre idea, we though of finding out other opinions to see if we made the right decision and chose something that the audience would enjoy more. This is important as you can see on the graph, mainstream horror has the highest percentage therefore we would be more likely to attract a larger audience.

This was our second question which,again, we thought was very important as the whole thing is an 'opening' two minutes therefore it is important that we know what to open our scene with; also to ensure that what we choose is most popular, however more unique and isn't something  which you would always expect. Although we want it to be immediately recognized as a horror, we think that we can make it not so obvious but become more evident as you go along. This would show originality and could surprise the audience and change there thoughts and typical expectations.

For our third question, we decided to make it character based. We took four of the main character (types) which we thought were prominent in many horror films. our final idea was 'a young grudge like girl'. Shown in the chart above, our results showed that 'a horror based mythical creature' was more popular. To some extent I would think that a mythical creature would trigger a fright and it is fairly easy for higher level editors to use animations to perfect something like that. However we didn't feel as if it would be something we, personally, could do. We ended up deciding on a young grudge like girl,which we thought was different as you don't usually expect to see someone of a younger age in a horror film; it would usually be teenagers or adults. However,we though that a young girl would have many representations and throughout the scene, we felt like we could change this expectations and make her into something shes not.

Questionnaire

This is our questionnaire which we done to finalise our ideas and come to a conclusion of what we were going to do; we wanted our film to be accepted by the audience and we asked questions which we thought were significant and would impact on how the film planned out.