Feedback 23.3.09

Good evaluation of prelim! What is the clip for? Don't forget to annotate it!

Once you've finished your storyboard you can scan it in. I'd like to see you filming this week so that you've got all your footage by Easter please. This will allow you a good couple of weeks to edit.
(Mrs Abell)

We have put a clip of the film black christmas onto our blog because it has certain feature's that we would like to use in our own film. Most importantly we have decided that we do not want to show the face of our killer in our film early on , as to create suspense about the appearance. Also the theme of the film starting happily at christmas time with all the friends together is somthing that we woul roughly like to use in our own film. We would like to show a happy group of friends before hand and contrast it with a few shots showing a few days later and show what will happen to them. We think this would make viewers want to continue watching to find out why these terrible things happened after it had also showed them very happy a few days before.

Mark

Prelim task

For our preliminary task we chose the genre of a western. Firstly we filmed a close up of Jess' hand opening the door, we used a sound effect of a creaking door to emphasize the possibilities of what was on the other side of the door for the audience, this part of filming was handheld. We used a shot reverse shot of Jess walking through the door using a tripod , we did this to give the audience a view of where Jess was walking into. We used a 180 degree panning shot in medium close up for the dialogue between Jess and Ellice to clearly show both characters when they were talking. Throughout the whole clip we used visual effects such as sepia and edited the brightness & contrast because it added the effect of an aged film, as we have seen in other westerns. The beginning of the film we showed the title of the film with a sound effect of horse hooves over the top, this would give someone watching it for the first time and idea of what the genre is. At the end of the clip there is titles again with a horses nay over the top, which links to the dialogue during the clip. From making this clip we have learnt the importance of using a tripod when filming because it gives a more steady shot and is easier to do panning shots. However we have realized how effective editing can be on the mood/genre of a film because the sepia and brightness & contrast in the clip highlighted the genre well. From this clip we have learnt that in our actual film planning is vital so we know what shots/camera angles/position to use. We also found that in our actual film we shall use the editing software again to have a similar effect. 

Jess & Mark,x 

Feedback 16.3.09

This is an improvement but you still have a lot to do to catch up. Ellice, you have produced a very good analysis. Jess yours is too vague and lacks effort. Mark, where's your contribution so far? I need to see evidence of all three of you working equally as a team.
Please complete your prelim asap and post here. Evaluate it fully. You need to be storyboarding your own project by now so you can start filming next week.
Mrs Abell

QUESTIONNAIRE

We asked 10 participants to answer 5 closed questions about genres of film they prefered. We asked people from college as these were our target audience. I found that 70% of the participants prefered horror movies to other types of film (romantic, comedy, thriller, sci-fi, wessstern).

We then asked further questions about what they expect to see in a horror film (as this was the chosen genre). The answers were more varied but the majority expect to see a murder or supernatural things (ghosts etc)- but this could be difficult as we have limited resources/finance obviously.

However, it has made us think further into what we will include in our horror film opening sequence.

Ellice

Casino Royaleeeee

Although Casino Royale isn't a horror film, i think the beginning scenes do include some similar conventions to which you'd expect in this genre. It also shows editing which i think could influence our own opening sequence.

It begins with an estabolishing shot along with captions identifying time and place for the audience. There is a seies of close up shots of a character straight away which shows his importance in the film.  These are both important things in an opening sequence to a film and i think we could use them in our film.

There is no sound only footsteps which creates suspense as he walks down a long dark corridor (similar setting could be used in our film?). When he reaches the room and sees Bond, suspense is continued with silence and a bit of music.

The editing changes and we see what happened previously. The loud tense music is contrasted with the silence of the office and adds to the tension. The retrospective editing creates enigmas which keeps the audience interested and asking questions. I think it is important to create enigmas in the opening sequence and we should make some in our film to make our audience want to carry on watching.

The opening sequence to Casino Royale is in black and white, probably to show that it has happened in the past. I think the film noir effect is good for this type of film, the side lighting creates dark shadows on each of the characters faces. I think this could work for our horror film as the shadows on the faces is a typical convention for a horror film and creates enigmas for the audience. It also shows who is the 'badguyyyy', which is good to know!

BY ELLICE X

Casino Royale

I have watched the opening sequence of the others. The beginning shows clues to what the story contains which aren’t a give away as the story has a twist. These clues are shown from shots of pictures. There is also a voice over which gives us more clues. In our film we could create quick shots to show clues to what will be involved within our own film. When we start to film we'll have more of an idea of what shots we need. The music is slowlypaced as is the camera work and the music is timed perfectly to camera, which is something we need to consider in our film. As our film is going to be a horror we may need something faster paced to go with our filming. The first shot of the film is an establishing shot of the house where the whole film takes place, also the words on the screen show where & when the film is set in. For our film we could firstly do an establishing shot of where our film is based. To establish day and time we could put words on screen at the beginning or ending of the 2minute clip depending on where we put whichshots. The film then shows a shot of the protagonist, the first person shown on the film this is important as we know who were following throughout the film. This will be important in ours as we want to show that were following as there will be several characters. As the film begins we hear our protagonist scream, there is only silence after the scream and no music, and this is something we could consider putting in our film. It’s also creating enigmas as to why she’s screaming? & why she’s breathing heavily?. Then there is a long shot took from a side angle showing the other characters walking slowly towards the door. This is something we can do in our film by using different cameraangles to create suspense, e.g. Filming walking from behind. All four characters are dressed in black and there is low key lighting throughout which is usually used in horrors, which is something we should consider using in our film. From this clip i can see general things that are used in horror which we can use in our film. it has also given me ideas for different camera angles to use to create different compositions and what it will be like for the viewer. Jessica. X

Feedback 11.3.09

This is week 3 of your project and you have made very little progress here. Where are your initial ideas, info about target audience, research etc? This is unacceptable. Please see the research task sheeton moodle and ensure all research task are divided equally and completed by friday. You will then have to start planning your project in detail and should be starting filming in the next week or so. If i do not see any progress by the end of the week then we may have to rethink your coursework option and group.
(Mrs A)

Blair Witch Project

After watching the opening scene of the blair whitch project we have decided that we would like to fill many of the same criteria's it does in showing connotations on horror. We would like to film some of our scenes using handheld camera shots to make the viewer feel like they are there in the moment when things are happening. Also we would like to film some of our shots in Black and white because we think it fits in well with the mood we are intending to create. The switching between colour and Black & white shots we would also like to use, we would like to use black and white as a representation of danger and switch to it just before something strange or scary happens. We think the stroyline of blair whitch project would also be something good to use as a guideline to our own film because it works well and is fairly straight forwards while it still fills all the criteria of a horror film.

Mark

The Ring Trailer