Film Progress

At the moment our film progress is going very well as we have finished all of our filming and now in the middle of editing. At the moment we are in progress of making titles and subtitles to go on our opening scene. We are also in progress of finishing our logo for our production company that we are going to use. We are planning on creating a very simple but animated logo and one that will suit our genre which is horror.

Whilst editing our opening scene I have learnt a lot. I have learnt how to use Dream weaver which is the software we used to edit and also how to use all the features on there which is very handy. I have also learnt how to make things look professional instead of tacky. Overall I am really enjoying the editing so far and learning new features of editing as I go along.

Our first movie- The Cellar

First Movie- The Cellar

Representation in Horror/Thriller including characters in your film.

Actors in our film:

• Antonia Georgiou-Main Character.

We Only used one character in our opening scene as we wanted the audience to be drawn in and focused by just one character. This will be more clear to the audience on what is going on and what the film is going to be about.

The main character in the opening scene/film is being represented by being very smart and educated. We know this as at the start she is walking out of work wearing casual but smart clothing. They have been represented in this way as straight away the character is being represented and the audience know what kind of character she is. Overall the representation for the character is accurate as we organised from the start for a woman to walk out of work or a business environment so making the character look educated and smart was very accurate for the role.

Storyboard 

Titles

Titles

Art of the title is a website with opening titles/fonts and film company logos and I am going to use this website to get some ideas and pick out some ideas ideas i liked.

Titles:

I like this a lot as its really simple but is very creepy. I like the
way everything is in black and white and the title "The Conjuring"
isn't too big and stands out too much as I think that's what makes the
title creepy. I also like the way the title sort of blends into the tree and also
the way the corners are darker like something is focusing in on the view.

I also like this title a lot as "psycho's acting" stands out compared to the
background a lot which is good as people straight away will know what
the film is called. The color of the title also gives us vibes that
blood is going to be evolved. The background also gives it
a very scary vibe and goes well with the title. I like this
title a lot and would maybe use an idea like this for
our own movie opening.


 

 Logo's:

Risk Assessment

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule

Sunday 9th November 2014:

11.00am-Meet up outside location.

11.05am- Set up camera and tripod.

11.15am- Ready to start filming.

12.00pm- Took a 20 minute break from filming.

12.20pm- Carried on filming until we got to where we could (needed more people).

1.00pm- Finished filming (Day 1).

Saturday 15th November:

2.30pm- Meet up outside location.

2.35pm- Set up camera and tripod.

2.45pm- Ready to start filming.

3.15pm- Took a 15 minute break.

4.00pm- Finished all filming.

We had to do filming in two separate days as we needed more people to act in our opening and the only day we could of done this was Saturday 15th November and also we needed to film around 2.30 as it wasn't as light as from the first day. 

The Pitch

The pitch

We came up with lots of Ideas for our opening for a movie and this is what we chose in the end...

A young woman who has just finished from work is walking back to the car park where she left her car before work. When she finally gets to the car park she tries to turn on her car but the battery died whilst she was at work. The young woman then gets out of her car with frustration and tries to look for some help with her car.

Whilst she is looking for help she notices a few creepy things going on but doesn't take any notice for now. The woman carries on looking for help and she looks through windows not realising someone is looking at her. The woman carries on looking around until she notices an old damaged creepy door, the woman knocks on the door to see if there is anyone inside who can help her but the door just opens its self.

The woman with fear entered the old looking building not realising what she was going to experience. The woman carries on walking through the old room noticing all the creepy objects and the creepy atmosphere around her until she opens an other door and doesn't return but leaves with a scream only.

 

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Conventions Feedback - Some good ideas about what conventions there are in your genre, especially in the props, settings, charactarisation area. However I would also like to see some work on the history of the genre, right back to the 1920's, and how the genre developed over the years. This would take the work into a safe level 3

• You still have issues with importing images, come and see me so that we can clear this up please.

Audience Feedback - Your research for this needs to be much more wide reaching, and I don't want you to use another student's work as a source. Look on the BFI Statistical yearbook and see what groups like which genre of film. Also look at 'the numbers' and see what they have to say about audiences.

Representation Feedback - You have clearly understood the concept of representation in media, giving good examples of gender representation in horror films.
At the moment this is at a level 2/3 border, in order to improve you should:

• Look at male representation
• link this research to your own film, what representations are present in your own film opening?

 

Representation

Representation

Representation is something that is used to represent something else for example a director representing their movie. It also means to represent and symbolise something for example Harry Potter is represented by a lightning bolt and glasses...

Harry potter with his glasses and lightning
bold scar.



Representation in film openings:

Scream (1): In  scream one the unknown ghost face voice is represented by scream as when everyone hears the voice with a person on the phone everyone thinks scream. This is an example of representation as the ghost face voice is represented as scream. Scream is being represented in a very creepy way as the voice is creepy and goes through people.

The representation is very accurate for scream as when we actually see scream its self he has the same voice as the unknown ghost voice from the start.

Stereotypes-Scream 1: At the start of scream one there is a stereotypical pretty young teenager/woman who is home alone at night. This is stereotypical as this happens in a lot of horror films and audiences except it.

The Grudge: The grudge is represented by the grudges white pale creepy looking face and when anyone who knows about the grudge see's the face they will automatically think The Grudge. The Grudge again has been represented in a very creepy way and spooky way and the directors and producers of The Grudge have represented them in that way.

The Grudge has been represented in that way as the film "The Grudge" is a horror movie so they would want the audience to know that the film is a horror. The representation is fair again as the image that they use to represent the Grudge is true and is used in the movie.

Stereotypes-The Grudge:

At the start of the grudge there is a stereotypical innocent sweet woman with no clue that the grudge is near her and eventually something happens to her. This is stereotypical towards the movie and on a whole horror movies as this happens a lot in horror movies.

Our film opening and the representations:

In our opening for "The Cellar" there are two characters...

• The Mother- The mother in our film "The Playhouse" is a mom who is married with a child and in our opening scene she is looking after her soon. When she is in the kitchen preparing dinner her husband calls her to check on her and their soon. When she is on the phone she hears heavy footsteps running across the landing, so she goes to investigate. When she goes upstairs she is very confused because nothing was going on. 



Conventions and Genre-Horror

Conventions and Genre-Horror

Genre: Horror

Horror is a film genre seeking to create a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. 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, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. Conversely, movies about the supernatural are not necessarily always horrific.

Conventions of a horror:

·         Foggy/dark backgrounds- To create a scary negative atmosphere for the film.  

·         Ghosts- These are typical characters for a horror film as everyone seems to be scared of them.

·         Zombies- These are usually used in zombie apocalypse films and are very common now days.

·         Possessed characters- These are also very common now days in films and are used as they make horror films more believable compared to zombies and ghosts.

·         Old houses- These scare people and let them know a horror film is on its way.

·         Cellars.

·         Abandoned places

·         Grave yards

·         Creepy little children

·         Clowns

·         Castles

·         Woods/forest

·         Dolls

·         Hospitals

·         Bloody

·         Weapons

·         Vampires

·         Darkness

·         Windy places

Film clips from horror movies:

Feedback - Miss Spencer

You have added an extra piece of analysis since my last feedback, and this piece is more detailed than the last two. You discussed the elements in DISTINCT more obviously, and mentioned conventions at points. You also added a variety of screen shots from the film (however these were not always relevant to the points you were making e.g. you showed her playing with the knives but didn't mention this important part of the mise en Scene)

Your previous work has not been improved yet, you really need to address the points in my first feedback and then reply to the post letting me know what you have done. I am beginning to become a little concerned that you are falling behind in your work Antonia, please come and talk to me if you are struggling to keep up.

• All work is on a 2/3 border, and in order to improve you should:
• Embed the film in EACH post
• Add many more screen shots throughout your analysis
• Remind yourself of the DISTINCT work we did, and apply this to all of your analysis
• Get the prelim task and evaluation blogged.
• Ensure all images are jpegs, as many of your images are not showing up. Please come and talk to me so that we can go through this as it is very important.

Textual Analysis-The Grudge

Textual Analysis-The Grudge

At the start of the opening scene for the Grudge there is a maid walking around a room picking up rubbish in the room. The music/sound used at this is very creepy and tense like something scary is going to happen. This has been done to make the audience feel nervous about what is going to happen. The setting is also very dark and depressing which gives the audience an impression that something dark and negative is about to happen.



There is then a close up used on the maid and this has been done to show her emotion as she can hear footsteps above her. This will also cause the audience to be scared for her and to want to know what and who is making that noise. After this point the creepy music is still going but the camera angle tilted from the woman's face up to the ceiling. This has been done as this is where the noise is coming from. This will again make the audience nervous for what is going to happen and also on the edge of their seat as they know anytime soon something is going to happen.

The camera angle after this point turns in to a mid shot of the maid looking out the door and from our view we see the woman looking through the door. The setting is still very dark and there is a big of light coming out the door. This will scare the audience and make them want to know if something is out the door and most importantly WHAT. The music has also changed in to a piano sound which also sounds very creepy like someone is getting closer and closer to the door.

The woman then opens the door and there is nothing there which gives the audience a rest as they would of been expecting something to be  inside. The woman then gets up and goes inside. This will again make the audience nervous as they know what something is going to be in there and want to shout at the maid "Don't go in Don't go in". The sound is still very creepy but windy noises have been added in which makes it even more creepier. The setting is still very dark but the maid finally gets out a lighter to use so she can see better.

There is then a close up of the maid looking very confused and petrified of what she is doing. She then opens another door inside the closet and her eyes get wider and wider from being so scared. The music at this point is still the same and very creepy but is getting faster and more tense by the minute. This gives the impression to the audience that something is about to happen and to look out for it as it is coming very soon.

The camera then quickly pans across to another point in the closet to where a creepy pale Asian girl with long black hair is there looking possessed and like an alive ghost. The music at this point is very fast like her heart beat would be. Her face was that pale and white that the brightness of the setting increased.

There is then a very wide shot used of the closet and all you can see is the maids legs wiggling for help as she is being dragged up further into the closet by the grudge. There are also very quiet screams at this point which gives the impression the audience that she is that far away now that nobody will hear her scream for help. After this point the setting just turns into black for the actual film to start.

-End-



Scream Analysis - Horror

Textual Analysis-Opening scene of Scream(1)

At the start of the opening scene we see a teenage girl cooking until her phone goes off. When she answers the phone it is an unknown number and a man calling with a creepy voice. The woman carries on talking to the unknown man until things start getting a little creepy.

As you can see a medium shot is used here as you can see the girl from waist upwards and also the background which is the kitchen. This type of shot has been used as the audience know that the person on the phone talking to the woman is going to do something bad so the audience will be looking at the background to see if they can spot anything. There is no music at this point but you can hear the sound of the popcorn crackling which brings tension to the audience as it gives the impression that something scary is going to happen any time soon. The sound of the phone ringing also scares and brings tension to the audience as every time the audience know that it is going to be the same guy.

There is also a long shot used on the house that the woman is in. This has been used show that it is night outside and to show that she is alone with nobody to help. This will scare and worry the audience and will want to keep them watching to see what is going to happen next. There is also silence at this point again to show that she is alone and nobody else around to help here.

After this part the woman is still on the phone talking the unknown person and a couple of seconds later the unknown person says "because I want to know who I am looking at". At this point the camera has zoomed in on the woman's to face. This has been done to show the emotion on the woman's face as she is now terrified and panicking. There was also a small bit of sound put in to the part which was quite creepy and felt like shivers but in sound. This has been done to give the audience time to think about what has just happened like the girl in the movie is doing now. 

After this point the woman quickly turns towards the back doors of her house and looks out looking for who could be looking at her. At this point a weather shot has been used as the woman is looking out the window to see if she can see someone but the weather outside is also foggy and wet looking to create an even creepier atmosphere. As she is looking out the window the unknown man says "hello" again from the phone which will scare the audience as they will think he is saying hello from outside.

A couple of minutes later the phone rings again but this time the woman has got very angry with him and used abusive language towards him. The unknown person has changed his voice in to a creepy vicious tone saying "I will gut you like a fish". The camera then goes in to a medium close up on to her face to again show her emotion. After this the woman runs around her house locking her doors to make sure she is safe. She then looks out of her front door to see if he is outside and this part is tense for the audience as the unknown man could pop up in front of the camera any second now!

The door bell then rings but nobody answers the door.. the woman gets scared and her fear then turns in to tears. The camera then moves to the door and from the angle the camera is at you can see who is at the door. This again scares the audience. Scary and tense music then starts to gradually play. This has been used to make the audience more engaged in the film and want to watch more to see what is going to happen as they know now the movie is going to get more tense. 

In slow motion the woman goes to turn on the patio lights as demanded by the unknown person on the phone. As she is going to switch on the light it brings on tension for the audience as they are scared but excited to see what is going to happen next.  The sound also goes silent from this part which engaged everyone's focus even more.

-End-



Feedback - Miss Spencer

You have made a decent start Antonia - using lots of media language and often discussing the meaning of the elements you have picked out. However you have described too much without then analysing (suggesting meaning) You have barely thought past camera movement/ angles and framing. You must also discuss editing, mise en scene and sound. Because of this your work is in a level 2. In order to improve you should:

    

•  Think about the questions below, ensure you are addressing all of them.
•  Embed JPEG images throughout and a video of the opening sequence in order to illustrate your analysis.

  Study the opening sequences of any film from the Thriller, Horror, and Romantic comedy genre. E.g. Seven, The Dark Knight Rises, Halloween, Notting Hill, Love Actually etc. Analyse how the sequence has been constructed through its use of: Camera angles, shots, movement, Editing, Sound, Special effects and Mise-en-scene etc.

· In terms of editing how have the separate images been put together - Think in terms of frequency of cuts, fades in/out, jump cuts, dissolves etc.

• What visual images appear on screen throughout the sequence? And what do they mean?
• · Describe what narrative (story) is being displayed in the sequence from start to finish.
• · Describe what kind of music; diegetic/non-diegetic/incidental/ambient etc. is being played over the sequence.
• · How and what titles are being displayed during the sequence and in what order.
• · What kind of characterisation is evident? - Age, gender, relationships etc. 

Textual Analysis:Knocked up

Knocked Up:Opening Scene

At the start of the film Ben Stone, Jay, Jason and Jonah (Friendship group of boys) are messing around by playing childish games at their house but all of them look very scruffy and unprofessional. The background they are in is also very scruffy as there is old tattered furniture all over the place. A wide shot is used at this point as everyone's body is shown in this part and also the background. This has been used so the audience know what the the character's personality's are like and how they live.

There is also a medium close up used when they are dancing and acting like children. This is used to show the audience again how childish they are. This has also been done to show the audience their facial expression because again it is quite an immature expression.When they are at a theme park on a roller coaster there is a Mid shot used and this is used to show their expression as they a screaming like children and also to show the audience that they are on a roller coaster. 

There is then a wide shot used but it is has been shot like the characters on the roller coaster are holding the camera. This shows the audience again that they are immature as the ride they are on is for children and children and not full grown adults.The music that is used from the start until the part where they are on the roller coaster goes very well with what is going on because the music is quite immature and chilled and that is what the boys are like at the start of the film as they are always happy and acting immature. You can also tell by their clothing that they are very childish as their clothing is very plain and baggy ... like what a child would wear! There clothing also has very immature cartoons on which also gives the audience a vibe that they are childish.

As the roller coaster starts to slow down as the ride is finishing the camera goes from them to an alarm clock and neat pot of pens. This has been shown as its gone from boys acting wild in a very untidy and scruffy home to a neat area of a bedroom. This will leave the audience very confused. The music also changed from the childish chilled music to an alarm going off. This change has happened as it will leave the audience confused as the personality has just changed from childish straight to organised and mature. 

There is then a mid shot of a woman waking up in a very neat and clean environment so It has gone from a big change of a non neat environment to a very clean environment. This will leave the audience confused as the audience will know that the film is a romance/comedy so they will be very confused towards how romance is going to match in the film.

-End-

Mission Impossible - Thriller Analysis

Textual Analysis: Mission Impossible

At the start of the movie Tom Cruise is climbing up a mountain/rock but without any sort of harness or something to keep him safe. We can also see he is struggling a little as he sounds out of breath. The connotation for this would be that we can see something bad or unexpected is going to happen very soon. 

There is also an Ariel shot used here to show his surroundings and also a point of view show to show that something could be watching him or heading towards him. As Tom cruise carries on climbing and making his way to the top of these mountains/rocks he has to jump from one rock to another with a big gap, when he does jump he jumps in slow motion and this is done to get the audience on edge and thinking what’s going to happen next and whether he is going to make it or not.

When Tom Cruise is climbing up the mountains and rocks there is a very wide shot used as  his whole body is shown but  the scenery around him. This is to show the audience that there must be something special about Tom Cruise in this movie as a normal person wouldn't be jumping and climbing across mountains and rocks that big without wearing a harness. 

Also at the start of the movie there was a part where the camera zoomed out a lot to show the scenery behind him and to remind the audience that he is alone in some sort of desert. The con-nation for this would be to show that there is a lot of danger around him. At one point in the introduction Tom Cruise stops for a minute but in a certain position and he seems to be positioned in a religious potion. He is positioned in the way Jesus was on the cross as he has his arms and legs stretched out like Jesus did on the cross. This shows that he is special and has special features to him and any minute now something unexpected could happen. As Tom cruise is positioned in this way the camera also zooms in on his face to show how he is feeling and he looks shocked and suddenly he carries on climbing a jumping across these rocks.

Finally you can start to hear a helicopter coming in which makes the audience think what is going to happen next and who is coming. 

As the helicopter is coming in you can still hear the happy/adventurous (Non-Diegetic)  music playing from the start of the introduction but slowly the music starts to change in to spy music as the helicopter gets closer. This now gives it all away to the audience as they will know that Tom Cruise in this film is a spy or has certain powers.

When the intro finally finished it goes in to the opening credits and has lots of sparks and flames going off. There is a fuse running out of time in the opening credits which could show that the spies in the film have a limited amount of time to do their work and slowly the fuse is going to run out of time. There is also a lot of metallic looking texts in the opening credits which could indicate the strengths of the spies because of how strong metal is.

-End-

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Can you please get your preliminary task and evaluation uploaded into the post below ASAP thanks
Miss Spencer

Prelim task and evaluation

Preliminary task evaluation

1.      The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene.

2.     Match on action is cutting on action or matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action.

3.     Eye line match- is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing.

We incorporated these in the planning of our film on our storyboard by drawing them out and then adding them in to out storyboard but in the appropriate parts for example for the 180 degree rule could be used when two friends could be having a conversation in a film and the camera be at a 180 degree rule.

 2. Our film making process In terms of filming shots from the storyboard around college went very well as there were lots of different areas we could film in such as dark areas, light areas and we could also go indoors and outdoors. It was also good filming around college as in every area of college it would be different and better for recording different types of shots. For example when recording a wide shot it is important that the background was suitable as a lot of the background would be included in the shot.

3. I learnt a lot about video editing on adobe premiere as before media I didn't know anything about adobe premiere all I knew that adobe premiere was a video editing app. I learnt how to add transitions on videos and adding sound and how to cut out sound in certain areas, when I want to stop and start the music and also how to put sound/music in.  I have also learnt a little about green screening and how it works and how to add it in but I still need to learn a little more about it. There are many more features on adobe premiere that I have not yet learnt about but would like to learn about to make my videos better and more professional.