Evaluation - extended

When we were given the task the first thing we started to do was research as much as we could about thrillers. Because we decided we wanted our thriller to have a subgenre of horror, we also had to research horror films as well. I started by finding out out what the codes and conventions are of horrors and thrillers. I stared analysing the first 10 or so minutes of films such as Seven, and begun to pick out where the producer had used the codes and conventions of this particular genre of film. This then gave us more of an idea of what we had to include in our own film opening. Other members of my group begun researching other films and also by producing a questionnaire which was then gradually filled out by a range of different audiences. When we got the results back from the questionnaire, we could then start planing our thriller/horror film opening. For the planning stage, we had to think about characters, setting, camera shots, content and mise en scene. Once we had come up with the ideas for our film opening, we put everything into a story board so when we began too film we could look at it to know what scene we need to be filming next. I think that the storyboard helped in the sense that we knew what order the scenes were going to be in, however, we did change our minds about some shots on it but initially we did stick to it. I think planning overall was our weakest point as I don't feel enough was done. Even though we didn't do very much I think we did a good job with our media product and am pleased with how it turned out and our audience feedback results.

Evaluation

Post Production Realisation

When our group started to take all the shots we have and go through all of them sorting which ones are good and bad to use. After this we put the ones we deem best and place them onto our Premiere Pro timeline. However when we started to cut the shots and place them in order as well as after being edited to fit with each other in time consecutively one after the other we begun to realise that some shots were jumpy and we needed some more shots in between the current ones we have to create more tension instead of there being constant action. For example one of the first shots is a shot of the protagonist sleeping next to the fire on the sofa and then a shot of the baby's room, which then cuts to another shot of her sleeping and then the monitor starts to make noise and it then zooms in on this, but the babysitter is asleep and cannot hear this. We then wanted her to wake up shortly after by the control falling off the sofa by some supernatural or paranormal force. However we put these shots together of the monitor making noise and then the controller falling off the sofa, but we realised that this didn't look right as it cut to quickly between the two pieces of action and we needed some more mysterious shots of something else happening before the controller falls as we all thought it was too soon. However we do not quite know what to put in between these two sections of action. Therefore we now realise that everything isn't as easy as it is planned. Furthermore that when in post-production you can come across shots that don't directly fit into one another. Moreover this happens when the babysitter goes to drink the water but the arm jumps too much as she raises it up to drink. making it look unnatural. Therefore we know we have to shoot more shots and maybe shoot a variety of other things that could be used as fillers to also create mysteriousness within the opening as it is a horror/thriller which tend just to imply themes rather than actual show and consequently fit into our genre as well as making the opening more natural and flow better overall.

My Conclusion:

The House - Opening Thriller/Horror

Progression

When we started coming up with our ideas and begun to film , I thought creating a two minute opening was going to be straight forward. During production, we faced many implications such as availability of our group and of actors, time, setting and equipment. Availability was one of our major issues when filming as even though we had to change our plans or make days free, there was always one day that not everyone could attend due to whatever reason. However, if one person out of the group couldn't attend, the rest of the group would still go ahead and film as much as they could without that person. Another issue we faced was setting. This is because is out opening was filmed in Laurens house which wasn't very convenient as it isn't very near to us and every time we went to film something had changed in it. However, I'm glad we did film in her house as the setting is perfect for our opening, and even though things changed it was never difficult to put back how we needed it to be. Equipment was an issue throughout production as cameras and tripods weren't available when we needed them. Also, during one day of filming we found the camera we were using ran out of battery because the group that previously used it didn't charge it back up again. We have learnt from this to always check our equipment is charged and working properly before using it and to get it as soon as possible so not to miss out if it becomes unavailable. Overall I think we have made great progression as a group because we have dealt with every problem that has occurred and stuck to our original plan with a few exceptional changes.

Background music

For our background music, we decided we wanted to have continuous music throughout the opening. We got the music from a copyright free website allowing us to use it without breaking copyright law. This piece of music lasts just over 3 minutes which give us enough time for it to last the whole way through and cut any out if not needed. The reason we have chosen tis particular piece of music is because in my opinion it gives off an edgy, suspicious and unnerving feel due to its deep tone. This links in perfectly to our thriller horror as we wanted to create that unnerving feel for the audience.

Costume

When looking at costume we wanted a costume that was very typical of a modern teenager as well as something you could maybe expect within a horror-thriller film. Therefore we wanted our protagonist to be wearing something basic and plain. For example leggings, jeans, jumpers, t shirts etc. Furthermore  we also wanted casual plain colours. For example we decided we wanted some kind of white upper garment - like a white jumper or top.

The white jumper below is like the jumper our protagonist wears throughout the opening. We chose this as  jumper can seem 'home'ly' as well as it being a casual piece of wear that is communal worn by teenage girls and women of all ages in modern society. Furthermore we decided we wanted it to be a white jumper as this would represent purity and innocence because of the social connotations and general associations with the colour white. We thought the white would represent innocence and angelic like almost like an angel or a dove.

Furthermore these are the type and style of jeans that our protagonist will be wearing throughout also. We thought this was fitting as she is meant to be represented as just typical female teenager of a modern society and jeans are the most ideal, casual and normal trousers for them to wear. Therefore we also thought this was better than leggings and any pyjamas as pyjamas would show its her house whereas we want to show she is a babysitter and this isn't her own house therefore wearing clothes to go out but as if it is her own household as she is used to babysitting there. Furthermore leggings are associated with more lower class and are too casual. Moreover typical leggings are black and in some low key lighting it is then harder to see her legs and what she is doing. Therefore making us decide that navy blue jeans are the most ideal.

Evaluation:

From my group members work I can see that the both the jumper and the jeans are both very casual pieces of clothing which is the effect we wanted to go for. The costume is also typical for young adults and teenagers to wear as it is comfortable yet stylish. The reason we decided to use a casual costume is because we wanted to keep a sense of realism for the audience, which we wouldn't have got if we used an unrealistic costume. For our opening realism is very important as when analysing horror films and thrillers we found that one of the aspects that makes them so scary is because the characters and setting are based on everyday people which automatically links the characters to the audience. Another reason we wanted to have a casual costume is because our setting is a typical middle class house and the costume fits in with the typical middle class feel. In contrast to this we didn't use a dressy upper class costume as it wouldn't have fitted in with our setting.

Title Sequence: Final introduction

This is our final introduction that we have decided to use on in our completed thriller opening. One aspect of it that we have changed and improved is at the end the title "The House" comes forwards and off the screen instead of backwards which it did in our previous draft. This then gives two extreme close ups overall of the title which reinforces its importance to the audience. We decided to keep the light and shadow which we introduced in the previous draft as I think it created a good effect and fitted into the theme of horror and thriller. We have included a short 2 second pause between the title going onto the screen and it going back off again. This is because I wanted the audience to be able to see the title clearly for a moment, as with the effects of the bright light and the shadow makes it look blurry. We have made it so the title goes off the screen the opposite way to how it comes onto the screen. By this I mean for example: it zooms in to go out, and it zooms out to come in. The lighting effect leans to the right to come in and it leans left to go out. I think this makes it run more smoothly as it shows every action has a reaction.

Title Sequence: Second attempt

This is our second draft of the opening title sequence introduction. The improvements we have made is we have added in some lighting and shadow effects. This gives it a scarier feel as the shadow and bright white light suggests a sense of mystery. The light is especially prominent inside the 'O' in the word 'House', which gives the visual effect of looking like a crescent moon which we associate as being scary. We have also stopped the title from shaking and moving about when we don;t want it to.

Title sequence: First attempt

This is our first attempt of or title sequence introduction. We have used the typography that we intended to and have used the colours black and white as it is simple yet effective. However, the major issue of our first attempt is that it wiggles around when it is supposed to be static. The reason we wanted it static is that is would link into the sound we originally wanted to use; static sound effects. This is going to be one of the aspects we will have to improve. Another improvement we will have to make is that is it quiet plain and boring as not much is happening. We will improve this by adding some visual effects.

Title sequence: Production introduction

This is our production introduction. We decided that we wanted something simple yet effective which is what I think we have achieved. We have put it at the beginning of our opening as when analysing other films we found that every one followed the same order, so we felt we should follow it too.

Typography - The tile

Typography For Our Title

Ringbearer

I Still Know

Traveling Typewriter

Major Label

Portmanteau Regular

Cold Coffee

An Unfortunate Event

Optimus Princeps

After looking at typography in other horrors and thrillers, we have decided to use a font that is serif as to make it look simple yet classic and elegant. We also want it to be white against a dark or black background so it will stand out and grab the audiences attention, it will also give the idea of pure vs evil. We also like the idea of the text being capitalised as again it makes it stand out. We wanted the title "The House" to be in the middle of the screen with lots of negative space around it to show a sense of isolation and mystery, and as it would be the only thing on the screen it will automatically focus the audiences attention on the tile. To conclude, we have chosen to use Optimus Princeps font for the title as we believe it fits in with our requirements, our film opening and the name of the title. This is because we think it looks like the font used on house numbers.

Actor

The actress we have chosen to star in our film is Emma Thomas. We feel as a group that she is the ideal actress to play the part of our baby sitter as she is young, slim and has long hair. This is because when looking at other horror films we noticed that most of the characters are naive teenagers or young adults. By using Emma I think we have fitted in with the stereotypical baby sitter as she is a student trying to earn some extra money. In our opening she will be wearing a white jumper with her hair down as we are trying to convey a sense of innocents so when happenings occur, it will seem more scary. We wanted to use a teenager as I feel it would appeal more to our target audience as they would be able to relate and identify with the character. 

Shot list

Storyboard

The reason we did a story board as part of our research and planning is because it gives us a clear starting point of what we will be making for our horror film opening sequence. It links our planning to our filming by allowing us to visualise images and ideas and put them in an order which will create the beginning of a story. Apart from showing images, our storyboard also includes shots, action and graphic matches, timings and sound. This gives us a better technical awareness and understanding.

Reflection testing

On our first shooting day before we set off with recording Matt and Jordan decided to do some reflection testing in the mirror above the fireplace which they could incorporate as some type of shot in the storyboard of our opening. They thought that they could capture the protagonist exiting or entering the room from one of the following angles. Therefore by doing this they can also show someone else in the mirror  or in the background behind her which she cannot see. As after researching into mirrors in horror films we know that they sometimes present paranormal, souls and ghosts to be trapped in mirrors or a mirrors a gateway to seeing these spirits. For example:

And this is Matt and Jordan's interpretation of a relfection shot:

The reason we decided to try out reflection testing is because we think it creates a really good effect and  would fit in with our horror film opening as it can look scary if done properly. 

Our setting

For our setting we wanted a slightly upper classed house hold so we could target our audience and bring the tension in the scene into the audiences houses and make it relatable by having a stereotypical household . Therefore as a group we looked at each others houses and came to the conclusion that Lauren's house was the best and almost perfect for what we wanted. This was because she had a nice spread out house with a kind of spooky surrounding to her house which can also add to the horror element of our thriller-horror. This is because her house is situated within black park and has a very open garden with trees surrounding it. Furthermore she also has other aspects of her house such as baby equipment, baby room, fireplace with mirror above and old fashioned kitchen. This was just what we were looking for. With this stereotypical slightly upper class house establishing that this family and surrounding should be safe and secure as stereotypically the rich white families in films and especially horror films are more safe than ethnic ones. On the other hand this is also stereotypical of other films with similar surroundings and allows the audience to prepare themselves for what the film is about in this opening scene with the use of any establishing shots. I think this surrounding and location is typical of the type of film we are trying to create and therefore reflects on what we want as well as create the scenes and tone that we are aiming for.

Openings - mise en scene

Mama

Character(s): little girl about 4 years old, man in his 30's, baby

Costumes: black hat, coat. Black suit, white shirt and black tie. 

Setting: large house down a private road with trees at the front and back. Car parked out the front with the drivers door open. Large childs bedroom with various toys and things to play with. Pink wallpaper with birds on. Dining room down stairs with crystal chandelier hanging above the table. Snowy woods with a small shack deep within it. 

Props: teddy bear, cot, blanket

Psycho

Characters: young man. Young woman. Two business men. Female secretary. 

Costumes: long skirt, shirt, trousers, suit, tie, hat

Setting: big city. Cheap hotel. Office with indiviual desks

Props: thick pile of money, paperwork

Exorcist

Characters: priest, 40+ year old man

Costumes: black trousers with a long black coat. White shirt, silver watch, red tie

Setting: rowing in a big lake with trees all around. Small town. Office in a house, many pictures of the same woman. Night time in small town, lots of fog, few street lamps on. Empty church, crosses, flowers, candles. 

Angels and Demons

Characters: priest, 4 men, hundreds of people, catholic leaders, pope, news reporters, nuns, vicars 

Costumes: black priest outfit. Red priest outfits. Pope costume with a yellow hat

Setting: open area in Rome outside the popes church which has been set out into paths so they can carry the coffin down a certain way. Inside the church where there is a large cross with jesus on it, candles, red drapes, benches.  

Props: coffin, hammer, crosses, cameras, golden cup on a chain, silver chalices

To summarise my findings, I can see that all of these films are set in upperclass areas with large houses and the characters 

What we need to do

this is a list of things we need to do in preparation for creating our horror opening, which are to do with research and planning. 

Horror questionnaire

Please may you fill out this quick questionaire. Thank you.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Hl_3IOKZr5p_J973ko0egFDMpKZd6SKRHwOPsd7nu7s/viewform

Horror ideas

Group Members workIn the lesson the other day we started to talk about the idea in my previous post further and discussed in ways of which we could actually film and make this story as well as starting to come up with shot lists. However the further we looked into this idea the more issues we noticed with it.

First of all we began to notice how we would need a bunch of children to help us film this as we were planning on having some possessed children. This we then thought would be too hard to accomplish as only I had a younger brother. Furthermore we also realised that a lot of the shots and technical aspects of our story that we would want to do, would be very hard for us as we do not have the professional equipment for it. For example we cannot do a steady pan shot or tracking shot in the woods as there is no hard flat floor to balance the tripod on. As well as this we decided that having more than 2 or 3 people in the entire piece would be too hard as well as be too complicated just for the first 2 minute opening. We then started to discuss how having only 1 or 2 characters makes the opening broader and more of a thriller with mystery so therefore we came to the conclusion that we had to come up with a new story idea.

We now know and have come to the conclusion that we only want 1 or 2 characters and for it to situate within a household to make it easier. As well as this we also realise that as it is a horror thriller it is good to be inside a home as it brings the danger to your home and makes it scarier and anticipating for the audience. Furthermore we want a very mysterious start with not a lot happening or a lot giving away as this will add to the tension and give the thriller the horror tone we want with the mysterious vibe. We also want to add to this with the loss of sound and when there is sound it is quiet so when something does happen it comes as a big shock which adds to tension. Furthermore we were thinking of using sound to sync with the editing. So when the beat heats or it gets faster the cutting syncs with this to add to the dramatic of the opening and create tension. I was inspired with this after watching and analysing the shutter island opening. We thought the sound could be incorporated with the editing to gain tension like a typical thriller and then maybe this beat or editing can get faster to heighten the tension or vise versa. Therefore we have learnt that before jumping to conclusions with ideas we must thoroughly see them through of how we can do it and if it is possible. I feel this was a very good learning curb and we now know exactly what we need to do.

Audio blog

The following link is a link to a mp3 audio file of our conversation of ideas and what we are going to do, as well as what we think is a good, bad and why we think this. However to listen you have to download the mp3 file by pressing the text saying "download" in blue.

Audio Blog Link

final cut

Continuity Task - Final Cut

Video to be uploaded

http://youtu.be/jYqmuPusu5M

With our final cut we decided to re-film all our scenes as none of them were good enough before. When re-filming our continuity task we looked at all the problems we faced and made sure we saw to the previous problems to make sure our continuity task final cut is majorly better technically. We have included all the shots that we needed to like: shot reverse shot, match on action, pan and tilt shots as well as keeping the 180 degree rule, which we broke in the last cut. In this final cut we also used a variety of other shots like higher and lower angles and had a longer clip and more footage. With our final cut we improved a lot technically and our story even improved.

Sound in horror

Sounds in horror makes the audience to feel frightened,nervous and anxious as they get the feeling of anticipation. Sound in horror includes high and low pitch and tones of sound. These sounds create a sense of nerve as the audience are aware of what comes after these sounds.

low pitch music:
Low pitch music is used in films to create a sense of danger. In the film Jaws, low pitch music slowing building a higher tempo, was played to create a dramatic tone and to create a sense of danger. Every time this music occurred in the film the audience understood Jaws was coming and the characters where in trouble. This low pitch sound made the film thrilling and shows how sound can easily create tone. This sound is still one of the most famous sounds of movie history.

High pitch music:
High pitched sound are used in films to build fear and to create suspense and anticipation in the film. In the the film Psycho, the shower scene uses high-pitched string instrument notes with very fast attack to build the tempo, tension and to create fear.

Lullaby music:
Lullaby music has become more popular with horror as the sense of innocents and children singing is scary for the audience listening. Lullaby music can be twisted and altered to make the lullaby sound frighting. You can do this by changing the words in the song to horror related words such as death and die. This makes the audience feel scared and worried about the following scenes.

No music:
Silence can also be used in films to create tension as the audience anticipate the next sound which is usually the next scare or a everyday sound which leads to a sudden scare which catches the audience off guard. 

Storyboards

Graphic visualizing process (storyboarding) is when directors begin to think about bringing their ideas to life. Thinking about the story, character development and meaning.

Why are storyboards important?

• pitching an idea
• links planning to film process
• visualizing images and ideas
• visualize links between shots, action/graphic matches
• timings,continuity and pace
• technical awareness and understanding
• revise narrative sequences
• chance to make decisions and revise

Graphic Match is a part of an editing process. Matching a graphic of a similar shape and size, and matching it to another one in another shot.

Cutting is linked with t.v soaps etc. This can be over used and lose detail, meaning and the tone of the scene. Therefore some directors don't cut too much and in fact use the camera to tell the story instead of editing more cuts in post production. This is to hold the verisimilitude and the audiences attention. Therefore creating a completely different feel and making it more of a movie or real life rather than just some edited t.v programme.

How to storyboard:

• photocopying a set of storyboards sheets
• use small frames
• draw in pencil
• number the shots
• make short notes
• note down the camera position
• little annotations on the storyboard with arrows

The storyboard is generally about already knowing what the scene is going to look like so it therefore is easier for the process.

Pre-production research

BBFC guidelines on horror:

U- should be mild should take account of the presence of young audiences. The outcome should be reassuring. 

PG- can be fightening but shouldnt be too intense. 

12- sustained threat with occasional gory moments only. 

15- sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is not acceptable. 

18- no constraints at this level on theme, language, nudity or horror. 

My group have decided we are most likely going to do a 15 mainly because we are around the same age so we have an idea of what we would normally see in a 15 horror film, but also because it doesnt give us too strict boundaries so we dont have to restrict our ideas. 

Representing women:

In films during the ...   women were represented as the 'damsel in distress' who were always the victim and never the culprit. They wore dresses, had beautiful hair and looked stereotypically feminine. This is because at the time women were seen to be the weaker sex and didnt do bad or horrific things. However, across the course of the 20th century many changes have taken place to how women are represented on screen. For example, the Dracula story offers an interesting take on that change, as the different screen versions remain true to the original novel in making women broadly passive figures. The film began to show good women vs bad women through Count Draculas success lies in his seduction of women from good to evil. In todays films women are shown that they can be just as powerful, violent and evil as male characters which could be argued to be a positive and negative thing for representing women. 

    

Day 1 of filming

Before we could go out and start filming our continuity task, we firstly had to learn how to put up and use a tripod and camera.
Once we were shown how to use all of our equipment, we began filming. However, we faced a few problems even though we stuck to our shot list and plan. 

Furthermore after we finished filming we then had to be shown how to take the raw footage off the camera and put on to the computer ready to edit in Premiere Pro. When we started to go through our footage we noticed we would have to re-take some scenes as even though we thought we had everything we need some of the shots have errors in them such as top of the heads cut off, or camera jolts. This made us realise how hard it really was and how much effort we would have to put into completing this task at the level of standards we need to be at. 

Planning - Brain storm

This is our plan of what we think should be included in a horror thriller which includes: camera and editing, sound, costume, characters and setting. We have chosen to look at horror thrillers as our survey told us that it doesn't have a large market so we thought that we would be different and create one as to target a new audience. We came up with our ideas about what should be included by our research, when we watched openings of horror thrillers and noted the typical codes and conventions as so to include some in our own opening. We also looked at horrors today compared with horrors back in the 1930's, and talked about how codes and conventions have been adjusted to what film producers think audiences want to see now.

This is what we think should be in an action thriller which includes: characters, sound, setting, costumes and editing & camera. We have chosen to look at action thrillers because our survey results showed it is the most popular subgenre of thriller and is most enjoyed by audiences.