looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Since the start of the course or more specifically since the lesson with Mike Schillinger, I feel that me personally along with Michael and Matt have as a team developed our media and film creating skills massively. At the start of the course everything was new to us and since then we have managed to create our own horror opening along with a preliminary, film discussions and including a title menu for our film. We have learned and developed an understanding for various different movie making software such as 'iMovie' and 'iDVD' and used them to edit, adjust and add effects to our horror movie opening. We have took on this blog and worked to include images, videos and text to lead you through our experience. Overall it has been an enjoyable experience and an extremely beneficial one in the world of media. I think we have completed this year positively and all worked to the best of our abilities and hopefully our hard efforts will pay off with the end product!

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?(2)

What has worked and what has not worked? Why?

All of our technologies work successfully and most of them without any hassle. The facebook questionnaire was a success and helped us to retrieve some useful information. We used the colleges Imacs movie software at first but found that Matt's software was more advance and allowed us to edit the movie easier and include more effects. We had slight trouble with adding titles to our end product but we eventually worked it out however it was a time consuming effort. I personally struggled with the updated Blogger layout but I downgraded to the old version which I t found much easier to use. I feel our camera skills were of a good level and we used the camera between us to the best of our abilities to create the best angles and a variety of different shots.

Pros of technology
Less workforce, fast and quick results, advance communications (facebook questionnaire and sending each other work) and accessible worldwide

Cons of technology
difficult to work, can be time consuming, expensive equipment and can be time consuming for some people

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

-Make a list of all the technologies you have used in the module from editing to uploading your film to your blog.

I have used youtube for uploading different clips such as our horror opening, the discussion and the preliminary.


We have used 'iDVD' in order to create a menu for our horror opening.

We used a hand-held camera to film to film all our shots with.


All of our editing was done on 'iMovie' in order to put all of our clips together to make our movie run smoothly and for adding in effects .


We used facebook by uploading our questionnaire onto its server for people to fill out and give us ideas for our plot.

CREATING PROPS

Here is the note we worked together to create as the main prop in our film hence the film title 'the note'. We stained the note with tea bags to give it a worn effect and added red paint to give it a bloody effect...

QUESTIONAIRRE RESULTS!

1. Do you prefer gore or no gore in a horror movie?
YES □ NO □     YES = 13 NO = 7

2. What are you more scared of?
□ What you can't see    = 17
□ What is visually scarey    = 3

3. What is your favourite scary movie?
........

 

Paranormal activity = 6

Dawn of the Dead = 3

The Excorcist = 2

Texas chainsaw massacre = 3

Hills have eyes = 2

Scream = 3

The Grudge = 1

 

4. Do you think the music and non-diegetic sounds work to add tension to the most tense scenes? If so what kind of sounds are suitable and scary?

YES = 18

NO = 2

 

High pitched noises = 16

Screaming = 2

Slow deep-toned music = 2

 

5. Out of the following, what horror genre do you prefer?

□ Vampires = 4

□ Slasher = 6

□ Thriller = 2

□ Supernatural = 5

□ Fantasy = 1

□ Haunted houses = 1

□ Zombies = 1

Who would be the audience for your media products?

-How did you 'target' your audience? why? Give reasons
Firstly we had to read through our plot to know what age group we would be targetting our film at; reading through our plot can give us an idea of how 'scary' or 'gory' our film will be and an understanding of exactly what age group our film is suitable for. We havn't included any gore so our film age rating will not be '18' however we intend for the film to be moderately scary so we feel the most apropriate age rating would be '15'. people of the age of 15 also have a disposable income to allow them to attend the cinemas, seeing as some will possibly have jobs and they are to young to consume alcohol or go out clubbing, they can easily afford to go to the cinemas at weekends and at night.

OUR STORYBOARD

This includes camera angles and shots that were used in our horror opening

LOCATION

here is a couple shots of our location and matt filming the action....

What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why? (2)

What is the difference between how British/hollywood films are distributed?- Hollywood films work on a larger budget which allows them to afford the best locations, actors, props etc. Major companies such as Warner Bros fund these movies which then allows the movies to become massive because they can afford to distribute them in the best possible ways. British movies on the other hand are funded through smaller companies such as charities and the national lottery.#

Where does yours fit in?- Personally I would like our film to interest a major Hollywood company such as Warner Bros because we would be able to get major funding and be able to afford good location and a well known actor. Our film would be distributed and advertised to the best it could be and would we screened in massive worldwide cinemas. However, keeping the film local and receiving funding from the lottery maybe for just a good location would also be a good idea, it would be shown in local cinemas and would also allow us to own the film and keep independence whereas Hollywood film distribution would expect to take over.

How does your product re-present particular social groups?

When creating our product we made sure that we did not include gore or blood because we wanted our film to be a '15' age rating, this represents a younger social group because it makes it capable for them to watch. Our product would interest and represent 'peer groups' or 'cliques' because these are groups of people with simular interests and social status and are normally found within a school/college setting. We have tried to target our films at a socially active and young audience so it fits the given two catergories.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products (2)

Forms & conventions of horror films- Gore, isolation, Gothic, supernatural, darkness etc

Our forms & conventions of our horror film- Isolation, fear of the unknown, vulnerability

How have you referred to that/those films visually/ used a line or dialogue from the film(s) -used the visual style? -We have not referred to any of the real media products we have deconstructed. We have used some basic and common forms and conventions that are found in most horror films. We analysed the film 'Carrie' which we have referred to visually by using a similar setting. We have not referred to any dialogue from other films.

Have you developed the style/ characterisation in any way? -No because we haven't taken any of our ideas from the films we have studied. We originally tried to develop the Blaire witch project however we changed our plot to a more personal and unique plot that wasn't developed from any of the real media products looked at.

Have you subverted or changed it? How? -No we haven't changed it because we have not used any of the product that we studied. If we were to stick with our original plot then we may have looked at changing or adapting the Blaire witch project however we have not came across a film that is like ours.

Final edit to the plot...

We have slightly changed the ending to our plot due to the difficulty of adding an elevator into our scene. In order to add an elevator to our scene we would have to change rooms which expands the area which is meant to be islolated and is meant to give off an isolated and chlrostrophobic effect. Instead of using an elevator we have devised an idea which is used in a number of horror films but is very effective. The idea have chosen to finish our opening off with is our murderer/camera-man will eventually get closer and eventually catch up with our actress. The girl in our opening who has tried different doors to escape will make her way down the spiral staircase who is follwed by the camera-man/murder, when she gets to the bottom she tries her last attempt of a door to escape through, as expected this door is locked. As she spins around she is looking directly into the camera or at the murderer, this leads her to scream. Explaining this ending isn't very convincing but we have practised it and will be extremely effective!!

FOLLOWING ON FROM FILM DISTRUBUTION...

Following on from my defintion on Film Distrubution, I feel this video found on the website I hyperlinked in with the definition post is extremely crucial for beginners and people who are slightly unaware of how a film distrubutor goes about getting a film 'out there'. The guy explains how a distrubutor approches the release of a film including financially. it is a MUST WATCH so take the time to click it, it is only a minute and a half long..........

http://launchingfilms.tv/acquisition.php?video=1&autostart=1

What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?

Define 'film distribution'
Although the main reason somebody decides to watch a film is because they enjoy 'the look' of a film or feel they would be entertained by a film's storyline, before they can know this they have to see some form of advertisement of this film to know that. Film distribution is getting the film out there to the real world. A film distributor is somebody who creates ways of getting the film into the most beneficial parts of the world so that the correct target audience can notice it and become intrigued by it. Advertising a film anywhere doesn't necessarily attract the right type of people for a certain film, a film distributor needs to know where the best places to place filming advertisment. For example, a film with a target audience of 15-30 would benefit by having it's images and trailers online and within social networking sites such as facebook and twitter because that is the dominant age range for online users. Distribution is the highly competitive business of launching and sustaining films in the market place. It's vital to the health of the film industry as a whole. Films don't become well known, or find their place in the world, by accident. The distributor's challenge is to bring each one to market, starting from scratch (except for a sequel) and realising its potential.

A great website that includes some of this information and lots more on film distrubution is http://launchingfilms.tv/distribution.php

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

What 'real'(horror) products did you study/deconstruct?
Throughout various lessons we watched several horror movie openings to get a gist of different codes and conventions and also ideas for our horror openings. A couple examples of horror films we watched were 'Scream', 'carrie' and 'my little eye'. When watching these films we were given a sheet with a variety of sub headings such as music, mis-en-scene, editing, camera shots etc. With the sheets given we would watch the openings a number of times and deconstruct and analyse them by evaluating each part section and explaining how it is effective for the film. For example, when looking at close-up shots in the 'camera shots' section, I would explain that this is used to create emphasis and can be used to emphasise facial expressions to allow the audience to know how the character feels. I also found that non-diegtic sound such as 'scary' music adds to creating tension and to make certain parts of the movies more scary. Good examples of 'scary' music are ones that include high pitch sounds such as violins. After looking at deconstructing real horror products I have a reasonably good idea of what to include within my own movie and how to use different editing techniques, camera shots, diegetic and non diegtic sounds, mis-en-scene and special effects to create a tense horror opening. Also on my blog is an analysis for the opening to 'scream' which focuses mainly on the isolated settings and the mis-en-scene of that specific type of horror genre.

3 AREAS OF PRODUCTION

Film production is split into 3 different areas which I will briefly explain now...

AREA 1: PRE-PRODUCTION

This consists of certain preparations such as planning the film itself, writing out all scripts what are going to be used and researching what locations will work best and finding out where you will film.

AREA 2: PRODUCTION

This is strictly filming. A lot of hard work and imagination is in this.

AREA 3: POST PRODUCTION

This consists of editing, sound and the credits etc.

After these 3 main stages are done the film will then get distributed through various companies such as the big american conglomerates like 'Warner Bros' or the smaller british companies. If this is successful then the film will get put into Exhibition. For the bigger budget films they will already automatically get put through to the cinemas such as Showcase and UGI etc as these are connected to the film companies themselves. But with the smaller films, they will have to be put on at smaller cinemas such as 'Broadway' which focuses on smaller budget films and British and foreign films.An example of a conglomerate would be 'Warner brothers'.

A cinema what would show films from this company would be Showcase Cinemas or Cineworld.

 



                                       

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

PLOT CHANGE!
After discussing our plot amongst the group, we have decided to go with a different idea we had at the start and have now further devoloped. Our first plot was unrealistic in terms of location, time consumption and the amount of actors required.

PLOT NO.2:
- After college there is a girl who attends the library to study but whilst looking through the book sheleves she stumbles across an old dusted book. The book she finds contains a note written by a girl 30 years ago who claims she was murdered this date 30 years ago by the caretaker. The college girl is concerned and studies the letter and tries to find more evidence. When she decides to leave she realises that the library is empty and everywhere is locked. She realises it is only her and 'someone' else in the building after hearing several noises and suspicions; she beings to rush towards the elevator to escape. Once in the elevator she beings to scream and pulled to the ground by someone or something, the lift beings to go upwards as she screams her way to her doom.

KEY FEATURES

In this video we have spoke about certain key features in our film such as:
- background about our film
- genre
- target audience
- summary; theme, plot, characters, their conflicts, and emotional turning points
- tagline
- question and answers

Some of the stuff we have spoke about in our pitch may have altered when it comes to the proper opening sequence as this is filmed before hand and ideas and plots may have changed in the filming process.
ENJOY.

This is just a short clip demonstrating certain types of camera shots such as; shot reverse shot, close up, zoom out, establishing shot and over the shoulder shot.

We did this to gain a little experience and knowledge about the camera what we are using and practice certain shots angles and movement.

The editing in it was simply done for practicing reasons as we are beginners to this and we thought by doing a little before hand may increase the quality and efficiency of our opening sequence.

LONG SHOTS OF BLUEBELL WOODS

THE FIRST PLOT

Although we have not came to a definite decision on our plot for the opening of our horror movie, we have drafted an idea that we are currently working on. We have decided to set our scene in a woods because it is an immediate convention of a horror movie and will create a satsisfying establishing scene. The plot is based around a group of teenage friends both male and female to attend a camping trip in the forest; however, this is an extremely common plot and requires a twist. The reason they are camping in this particular forest is due to it only just being reopened to the public after a recent murder investigation that failed to identify a killer. This is the only definite bit to the plot as we intend to add an extra factor that will make the story more original than others like it. One idea was to include some form of mysterious book found in the forest that holds a tale or even a diary of the girl recently found murdered there. As the group pair of into there tents, whatever is in the forest will make it's move on one of the victim's as soon as they are alone. The negatives to this plot are that it isn't extremely original and requires tweeks in order to thrill the audience more. The positives are that it includes a helpless group of teenagers interfeering with alot of typical horror conventions and it includes very obvious conventions and plots so the audience can recognise them and hopefully be scared by them too!

AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE- ANSWER THE QUESTIONS PLEASE!!

Audience questionnaire

1. Do you prefer gore or no gore in a horror movie?
YES □ NO □

2. What are you more scared of?
□ What you can't see
□ What is visually scarey

3. What is your favourite scary movie?
........

4. Do you think the music and non-diegetic sounds work to add tension to the most tense scenes? If so what kind of sounds are suitable and scary?

5. Out of the following, what horror genre do you prefer?

□ Vampires

□ Slasher

□ Thriller

□ Supernatural

□ Fantasy

□ Haunted houses

□ Zombies

OPENING TO SCREAM ANALYSIS

The scream movie's opening scene first starts by introducing us to a young, slim teenage blonde girl answering the telephone to a mysterious unknown caller. The blonde girl plays the common role in many horror movies as the 'dumb blonde girl'; this role connotes that she is naive, helpless and vulnerable to all danger in the film especially if left alone, which in this case she is. Firstly she acts reasonable and puts the phone down when realising the caller assumingly has the wrong number. The caller continues to ring and act strangely by trying to conversate with the girl; the non-diegetic voice of the caller has an extremely mysterious voice and it works perfectly to create a scary atmosphere for the audience. This atmosphere is created entirely by the fact that we have no idea at this point who the caller is; an audience is more scared of something they cannot see compared to something they can.The camera includes mid-shots from behind of the waiste upwards and over the shoulder shots to give the impression to the audience that the girl is being followed. The girl begins to conversate with the uknown caller being the naive teenage girl she is, she tells the caller what she's doing. As the girl begins to realise that she is talking to some form of murderer who can see her every move, she begins to race around the house locking all the doors, this gives off a trapped sensation due to her now being isolated in the house. Non-diegetic music is played in the background and becomes racier and racier as the scene goes on building up tension for the audience and also letting us know something is going to happen. This whole scene is based in the home of the teenage girl, by doing this it removes all the connotations of security and safety that a family home should have and turns it into a trapped and dangerous mad house.

EYE-LINE MATCH

An eyeline 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. The eyeline match begins with a character looking at something off-screen, there will then be a cut to the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that he is watching.





 Here is an example of eyeline match being used in a movie:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSFD6aIhvFI

30 DEGREE RULE

The 30 degree rule is rule used in filmmaking with the purpose of creating continuity between different shots within a larger sequence of shots.

when moving your camera between shots the camera should be moved a minimum of 25 to 30 degrees (with a maximum limit of 180 degrees) to avoid jarring transitions also known as jump cuts. This helps you seamlessly piece together a larger sequence of shots in a harmonious manner.
http://www.lightsfilmschool.com/blog/the-30-degree-rule/128/


This hyperlink is a link to a home-made video demonstrating the 30 degree rule:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbTmt5seh6A

180 DEGREE RULE

The 180 Degree Rule is an important aspect of the film grammar. The Director's template has a tool for drawing in the 180 degree axis and it is worthwhile to get in the habit of drawing it in.

Crossing the 180 degree axis can be very confusing since the directions established for the viewer is changed. An example of this would be like watching a football game with the runner going to the right and all of a sudden we cut to him running to the left. It would make the viewer wonder if he was running the wrong way or not.

This video may help to elaborate on defining the 180 degree rule:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBPw9C57TuU&feature=related

WHO'S INTERESTED

INCLUDED IN THIS POST IS MY TARGET AUDIENCE SHEET; THIS SHEET INCLUDES A MASSIVE VARIETY OF OTHER THINGS THAT MY TARGET AUDIENCE WOULD ALSO (STEREOTYPICALLY) BE INTERESTED IN.  I CAN BASE MY IDEAS ON WHAT TO INCLUDE IN MY MOVIE TO SATISFY MY AUDIENCE BY LOOKING THROUGH THESE SHEETS.

THIS IS MY AUDIENCE PROFILE SHEET, THE SHEET GIVES A VARIETY OF IDEAS OF WHAT CAN REALLY SCARE THE AUDIENCE. MY SHEET INCLUDES MY IDEAS IN WHICH I THINK ARE MOST EFFECTIVE ELEMENTS FOR GIVING YOUR AUDIENCE A FRIGHT...