Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Looking back now at my preliminary task I think I have come such a long way! I have improved on things such as panning my work, filming and editing it, and are now really comfortable doing them. Analyzing the preliminary task I have realised just how much I didn't know back then. I think for our preliminary task it was rushed and we just jumped straight into it, we didn't understand just how important the planning really is. In contrast now in the filming of Chapel Lane we panned everything out, from the storyline, script ,camera angles, setting, costume, and music. These are all things we either rushed to we could get on with the filming or didn't even think about at all. So when it came to filming for our preliminary task we we found that we were still planning while holding the camera in our hands and the actors waiting for instructions on what to do. For our film opening we had this all figured out and were ready to go once we got to our location, on which we thought a lot about, as everything ran so much more smoothly and we could actually focus on filming and getting the camera angles right. I've learnt that planning of time is crucial because you need to get everything done, but you don't want to rush it or miss anything out.
For my camera work I am so much more confident and really understand what angles need to be used where and why. For my preliminary task we just filmed in only a few camera angles, didn't really experiment to see what would look best we just lest it thinking it would be okay, we mainly used mid shots and long shots. But now for Chapel Lane we used a wide range of camera angles from, close-up, establishing shot, high and low angle and an extreme close-up. We used them because now we understood what they meant and what a difference they could make to the final product. We also now understood that the camera angles can set a mood and help get the genre across. I am much more comfortable holding the camera because I now know how to achieve really good shots such as the high angle shot to show power over someone.
As for the editing I think this is the thing that has come along the most. When editing our preliminary task I had no clue what I was doing! I found it really difficult because I had never used iMovie before so it was really daunting to have this new software in front of you with all theses different buttons that I had no idea what they where for. I t was really difficult just to upload our footage onto iMovie, and once it was on there I had to have lots of help! It took me a while to get use to iMovie and how it works, so for our preliminary task all we did was edit the clips together and that was it. But now for the editing for Chapel Lane I grew more confident, the editing got more and more easier the more you do it. For this we edited the clips together, changed the colour to black and white, add sound, slowed down the footage and managed to put text in. As a result of this our film opening compared to our preliminary task looked to much better, professional and more interesting for the viewer.
Overall I think that research and planning is key, and the more practice you get the better the outcome.
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Evaluation Activity 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
This is a picture of me using a tripod and camera.
Before filming for media studies I hadn't really used a video camera before, I had used a normal camera to take pictures but not a proper video camera one. As we used a camera from school I hadn't seen it before so I had to learn how to use it and what all the buttons meant. It didn't take very long and I soon got the hang of it, the camera was quite a good quality which was important because we wanted to viewer to enjoy our film opening and if we had spent a lot of effort on the costume, setting and script, it would be a shame to let it down with poor quality filming. Knowing what to do with the video camera was important because it saved time when filming and we could get straight into it.
As for the tripod, I had never used one before as when I take pictures I just hold the camera with my hands. Its very simple to use, you just unclip the hooks and pull the legs down to the height you want. We had to make sure that it had a disc thing on top, to hold the camera on. Tripods are important for making sure that the filming isn't shaky as this can make the footage look unprofessional.
This is a picture of me on a Mac using iMovie.
Before media studies I had never used a Mac before and to be honest I found them really confusing to use as they are different to Windows which is what I'm used to using. So i had to get use to using a Mac before i could edit anything. It was easier than I thought and after a few people showed me what to do I found I got the ropes really quickly. As for iMovie I found it really tricky to use at first because I had no idea how to sue it or even how to upload our footage to it. Lots of people were very helpful to me and after a couple of weeks I finally got to grips with it. My iMovie skills have come such a long way since then, I can now comfortably upload footage, and edit it. I know how to change the colour of the footage, speed or slow it down, add text and music.
Blogger-
I had never heard of blogger before so that was new to me too! The first day of setting it up was a bit of a muddle but now I can use it properly to upload posts and our finished videos.
This is a picture of me using a tripod and camera.
Before filming for media studies I hadn't really used a video camera before, I had used a normal camera to take pictures but not a proper video camera one. As we used a camera from school I hadn't seen it before so I had to learn how to use it and what all the buttons meant. It didn't take very long and I soon got the hang of it, the camera was quite a good quality which was important because we wanted to viewer to enjoy our film opening and if we had spent a lot of effort on the costume, setting and script, it would be a shame to let it down with poor quality filming. Knowing what to do with the video camera was important because it saved time when filming and we could get straight into it.
As for the tripod, I had never used one before as when I take pictures I just hold the camera with my hands. Its very simple to use, you just unclip the hooks and pull the legs down to the height you want. We had to make sure that it had a disc thing on top, to hold the camera on. Tripods are important for making sure that the filming isn't shaky as this can make the footage look unprofessional.
This is a picture of me on a Mac using iMovie.
Before media studies I had never used a Mac before and to be honest I found them really confusing to use as they are different to Windows which is what I'm used to using. So i had to get use to using a Mac before i could edit anything. It was easier than I thought and after a few people showed me what to do I found I got the ropes really quickly. As for iMovie I found it really tricky to use at first because I had no idea how to sue it or even how to upload our footage to it. Lots of people were very helpful to me and after a couple of weeks I finally got to grips with it. My iMovie skills have come such a long way since then, I can now comfortably upload footage, and edit it. I know how to change the colour of the footage, speed or slow it down, add text and music.
Blogger-
I had never heard of blogger before so that was new to me too! The first day of setting it up was a bit of a muddle but now I can use it properly to upload posts and our finished videos.
Evaluation Activity 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
Our audience for Chapel Lane is in the age range of 15-30 year olds, we based our audience on people who like to watch films such as 'Perfume', 'From Hell' and 'Sweeny Todd' so we made a voxpop as our research to find out what people wanted to see in a horror/thriller and lots of other questions around that subject, like what they would expect to see in a gothic horror/thriller. The link is already on my blog. From the voxpop I learnt about what people wanted to see in the opening of a horror movie and how it would catch their attention. From this information this helped our group address the audience by knowing what they wanted and what they most expected to see, this helped us create a film opening that other horror and thriller people would watch. We took into account their views and needs.
We attracted the audience by making our film opening look as realistic as we could, this meant we went all out on trying to find suitable costumes for the actors to wear, because from the voxpop we learnt that people think that if your making a period drama then costume is so important to you can get the message across quickly and easily. We also had to think about where to set and film it because we wanted it to fit in with the codes and conventions of horror and thriller films. That's why we decided on a church and graveyard because we thought that it would really set the scene and give an eerie atmosphere.
For the filming to attract the audience we used close-up and extreme close-ups to show in detail the character and make the audience feel uneasy being so close to a stranger, which is what they should be feeling when watching a thriller. The use of the match on action of the girl walking up to the camera and then it cuts to her looking behind her, this creates suspense because the viewer doesn't know what shes looking at and keeps them in with the action.
For editing to attract the audience we made all the footage in black and white to stick with our Victorian theme which made it more believable for the audience and makes it more interesting to watch. We also slowed down the footage too give it a creepy effect which is what you want when creating a horror. We edited in non-diegetic sound of music to help create emotion for the audience and make them feel sympathy for the girl who's being stalked.
We attracted our audience because it was a Victorian era film and there isn't as many of those as there are in other genres. Which made it different and interesting to watch.
Our audience for Chapel Lane is in the age range of 15-30 year olds, we based our audience on people who like to watch films such as 'Perfume', 'From Hell' and 'Sweeny Todd' so we made a voxpop as our research to find out what people wanted to see in a horror/thriller and lots of other questions around that subject, like what they would expect to see in a gothic horror/thriller. The link is already on my blog. From the voxpop I learnt about what people wanted to see in the opening of a horror movie and how it would catch their attention. From this information this helped our group address the audience by knowing what they wanted and what they most expected to see, this helped us create a film opening that other horror and thriller people would watch. We took into account their views and needs.
We attracted the audience by making our film opening look as realistic as we could, this meant we went all out on trying to find suitable costumes for the actors to wear, because from the voxpop we learnt that people think that if your making a period drama then costume is so important to you can get the message across quickly and easily. We also had to think about where to set and film it because we wanted it to fit in with the codes and conventions of horror and thriller films. That's why we decided on a church and graveyard because we thought that it would really set the scene and give an eerie atmosphere.
For the filming to attract the audience we used close-up and extreme close-ups to show in detail the character and make the audience feel uneasy being so close to a stranger, which is what they should be feeling when watching a thriller. The use of the match on action of the girl walking up to the camera and then it cuts to her looking behind her, this creates suspense because the viewer doesn't know what shes looking at and keeps them in with the action.
For editing to attract the audience we made all the footage in black and white to stick with our Victorian theme which made it more believable for the audience and makes it more interesting to watch. We also slowed down the footage too give it a creepy effect which is what you want when creating a horror. We edited in non-diegetic sound of music to help create emotion for the audience and make them feel sympathy for the girl who's being stalked.
We attracted our audience because it was a Victorian era film and there isn't as many of those as there are in other genres. Which made it different and interesting to watch.
Evaluation Activity 4
Evaluation
activity 4 - What would be the audience for your media product?
A person who would watch our film:
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Likes to shop: H&M, Debenhams, River Island and House of Fraser
Music they listen to: Contemporary, Acoustic Blues, Romantic, Dance and Hip-Hop
Favourite TV programme: Crime and police dramas, mystery dramas such as Ripper Street and Sherlock Holmes.
Why would we aim our film at a similar target audience?
We would aim our film at someone who I thought would like all these sorts of things because they have a middle class taste to things, so they could relate with some of the characters in the film. They are also around the same age group so they will also be able to relate to the character even if it is in a different time period to now.
Evaluation Activity 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
What does a production company do? (from Ask.com)
'A production company is a company liable for physical production of new media, performing arts, film, radio or a television program. The company is also directly responsible for raising of funding for the production or may accomplish this through an emissary. The production company can be either a small company or a larger one, selling its products to a film studio or presenting it at a theatrical venue, or, in the case of film and television, it may be the studio itself.'
Our production company name is called 'Cobble Productions'. We decided to call it that because we thought that it relates to the whole Victorian era, hence the word 'Cobble' like the stones you get on the streets of London. It also simply came from where we were filming, on a cobbled path. We wanted it to be something that sound British and small, not something big and international. If i had to compare our film production company with another already existing one I would say that we are more like Warp Films or Film4 simply because they are small independent British film companies. Film4 also make horror and thriller films too, so they would be perfect to distribute our film as it fits in those genres. Warp Films have also wont lots of awards for their film 'This Is England' so they would be a good company to go with as they have a good reputation from great films.
A film that is similar to our film, but not produced by Film4 or Warp Films, but produced by Constantin Film Produktion is the film 'Perfume'. This film as been a huge help to us all throughout the process of making Chapel Lane because we have based a lot of things on it for example, the creepy nature of the main character, the era it was set in, the costumes and the genre. Its similar to ours through all of theses things, making them the same in a lot of ways. Its similar in the way the main character has an obsession with women although for different reasons, this makes the genre of the films -thriller- even creepier and leaves the audience wanting to know whats going to happen next.
I have clearly shown that the genre of my film is a gothic horror and thriller, through the use of Victorian costume which is essential if you want to make a period piece, as it lets the audience know straight away when it is set and helps them relate to the time. I have also shown this through the editing of making the footage black and white, again relating to the old fashioned theme to it and adjusting the the brightness to make it darker like a gothic film.
I didn't include any of the actors names in the billing, we decided not to do this because we wanted to make the film opening feel real after we had gone to a lot of trouble to find Victorian era clothes and edit it all to make it all look really old fashioned and real. So we didn't want to ruin the real feel to it by putting up the actors names and clearly showing the audience that it isn't real. Instead we would put their names at the end of the film when it has all ended so not to ruin the suspension.
What does a production company do? (from Ask.com)
'A production company is a company liable for physical production of new media, performing arts, film, radio or a television program. The company is also directly responsible for raising of funding for the production or may accomplish this through an emissary. The production company can be either a small company or a larger one, selling its products to a film studio or presenting it at a theatrical venue, or, in the case of film and television, it may be the studio itself.'
Our production company name is called 'Cobble Productions'. We decided to call it that because we thought that it relates to the whole Victorian era, hence the word 'Cobble' like the stones you get on the streets of London. It also simply came from where we were filming, on a cobbled path. We wanted it to be something that sound British and small, not something big and international. If i had to compare our film production company with another already existing one I would say that we are more like Warp Films or Film4 simply because they are small independent British film companies. Film4 also make horror and thriller films too, so they would be perfect to distribute our film as it fits in those genres. Warp Films have also wont lots of awards for their film 'This Is England' so they would be a good company to go with as they have a good reputation from great films.
A film that is similar to our film, but not produced by Film4 or Warp Films, but produced by Constantin Film Produktion is the film 'Perfume'. This film as been a huge help to us all throughout the process of making Chapel Lane because we have based a lot of things on it for example, the creepy nature of the main character, the era it was set in, the costumes and the genre. Its similar to ours through all of theses things, making them the same in a lot of ways. Its similar in the way the main character has an obsession with women although for different reasons, this makes the genre of the films -thriller- even creepier and leaves the audience wanting to know whats going to happen next.
I have clearly shown that the genre of my film is a gothic horror and thriller, through the use of Victorian costume which is essential if you want to make a period piece, as it lets the audience know straight away when it is set and helps them relate to the time. I have also shown this through the editing of making the footage black and white, again relating to the old fashioned theme to it and adjusting the the brightness to make it darker like a gothic film.
I didn't include any of the actors names in the billing, we decided not to do this because we wanted to make the film opening feel real after we had gone to a lot of trouble to find Victorian era clothes and edit it all to make it all look really old fashioned and real. So we didn't want to ruin the real feel to it by putting up the actors names and clearly showing the audience that it isn't real. Instead we would put their names at the end of the film when it has all ended so not to ruin the suspension.
Evaluation Activity 2
Evaluation
Activity 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I think that our film
opening successfully meets the needs of a target audience who want to see a
horror and a thriller at the same time, if they are looking for a thrill then
this is the film for them, but if they are looking for a horror film with lots
of blood and gore then this is not the film for them, as this is more of a
psychological thriller than a brutal gore film.
This is our character
here on the top, John Whitlock, in our film opening of Chapel Lane. On the
bottom there is the character of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
in the film Perfume. I picked this character because he is one of the
characters we used in our research to base our characters on. I think John and
Jean have a lot of similarities between them such as:
- They both have a
menacing characteristic about them that drives them to get what they want.
- They
both have an obsession with women that makes them commit terrible crimes.
-
Their characters are both set in an old fashioned era, so the crimes they
committed were more unheard of in those days.
-They
both have short brown hair and brown eyes.
-
Both of their costumes are very similar as they are from and old fashioned era
and their costumes really sets the time period and makes it really clear to the
viewer.
-
Their roles in the films are similar as they are the main character that the
audience follow and both have women and the side characters.
-They
both have a ‘Jack the Ripper’ feel to them with a man stalking women.
Differences:
-The
reasons that they are stalking women are different Jean wants to capture the
women’s sent and John just has an obsession with women’s figures and personas.
-They
are from two different classes, John is from a higher class which you can see
from his costumes of a top hat and suit and Jean is from a working class and
has ragged works clothes which are dirty and torn.
-
The places where the characters are from are different as Jean is French and
John is English.
-Their
accents are different, Jean talks with a lower uneducated accent and John has
an upper class posh accent.
Evaluation Activity 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The title of the film:
We deiced to call our film 'Chapel Lane' we decided this because we liked the idea of calling the film after the place where it was set and we got the inspiration from the popular TV show, 'Ripper Street'. We also thought that this was a good name because we have set the opening in a church/graveyard which relates to the chapel. The connotations of having set our opening around a church is something that relates with horror movies as they are quite a spooky place. Naming the film after a street made the film feel like its all set in one place and you cant get away which shows the feeling of the girl in the beginning.The word 'Chapel' relates back to the Victorian era so by calling it this we made the film dated even before people watched and it gave the viewers a clear indication of when it is set and the genre. 'Chapel also has relations to religion, making the viewer think that the film is something to do with religion and churches but in reality its about a man stalking women in the Victorian era. We researched different names that we could use on the internet to see which ones we liked best, it took us quite a while because we couldn't all agree on one but in the end we found one that we all thought would suit really well.
Setting and location:
For the setting and location we had it set around a church and graveyard. I think that this is a typical setting for a horror movie. A church and graveyard give an eerie atmosphere and has an unsettling feel to it as the viewer because it can either be something that you relate to happiness such as weddings or unhappiness relating to funerals. therefore the audience aren't sure at the beginning what they should be feeling as the church door is shown in the first establishing shot. Once they find out what is going on the viewed may feel uncomfortable because what is happening is in complete contrast to the setting as it is a religious place it would be going against many religions and would be seen to be a disgusting act on Gods territory. Filming in this place made it seem more realistic as if it were really set in this time which is what we wanted, the old stone walls with bits missing out of them really captures the 'old' feeling and creepy atmosphere. When filming, as it was in a public area we had to watch out for passers by, so we had to stop filming a couple of times to let them past.
Costumes and props:
Costume was the most important thing to get right, if we didn't get the costume right then no one would believe that our film was really set in that time period. We needed the audience to believe and the easiest and most effective way was through visual costume.We chose outfits that would fit in with the era for example the man was wearing a black suit, white shirt and tie and a black top hat. this gave the audience a sense of mystery about him because he looks very formal and important someone who you could trust, but it was actually misleading because he is a violent murderer. For the girl we had her dress in a dark green dress and a black cloak. This giver her an innocent feel about her because she wants to stay covered up and doesn't show too much skin.
The props we used were a hand held mirror to show the reflection of the stalker man behind her and a cigarette that the man smokes at the beginning. The use of the mirror was to show that character as being innocent as she was just checking her make-up when she sees this man behind her. The cigarette shows the man being independent and looking a bit like trouble making the viewers wonder what hes up to.
Camerawork and Editing:
Overall I think that our camera work was very good. We tried to stick with time and era and not using a tripod for some of the shots as they wouldn't have used them in those times. As a result of this I think it had good and bad consequences, for example it actually looked quite effected because the camera was unsteady it made the whole film opening unsteady and it came across in a creepy way, like it was the man following and it was him making it shake. On the other hand I think at times the camera was too shaky and did look a little unprofessional, most of the time you wouldn't really notice it at all but at some points its really noticeable. I think this was partly because as I said before we filmed in a public place where there was people around all the time, so sometimes we would have to stop and let them pass which unfocused us a little bit. Also because we were filming outside, some wind came along now and again a knocked the camera making it move. To set the scene and establish our characters we used some camera angles help us, for example there was a shot of the girl in the middle of the opening to show the audience where we were. We also used a close-up and extreme close-up when the man is smoking, this shows in detail what he is doing and gives an indication of what hes like. We used match on action when we see the girl walking towards the camera and then we get a shot of her looking behind, giving the feeling that she thinks someone is watching her.
For our editing we changed the picture to black and white to really capture the Victorian era. We also got rid of the diegetic sound of cars, people talking and the wind going through the camera and replaced it with non-diegetic music to add as sense of emotion. We also changed the brightness to make the piece seem more dark and mysterious.
Title font and style:
We wanted our font to look old fashioned and fit in with the Victorian era. So for this we chose an italic type font that was curly and flicky to make it look like it had been hand written by someone. It looks like old English writing, we didn't want to use a font that would be big and bold or make it look modern. We used plain colours such as the pink/peach and gray, this contrasts with the black and white filming and the whole idea as the opening is about something dark and bad the title is light and innocent. The colours look old fashioned and are not the typical red for a horror film, but I would say ours is more a thriller.
Story and how the opening sets it up:
We have set up our story is though the most important thing, costume. This immediately lets the viewers know that it is set in a different time period to ours and its the first thing they see. It is also set up with the black and white filming letting them know it old fashioned. The first character we see is the man and we see him having a smoke, then the girl is introduced and he watches her walk past. From this the viweers will get the idea that the story is evolved around these two characters and something happens after he starts stalking her. But it doesn't tell you what that is, so the audience will have to watch the rest of the film to find out.
Genre and how the opening suggests it:
The genre of our film opening is a gothic horror/thriller which is shown straight away thought the use of the Victorian costume and the black and white filming. This showed the viewers when it was set and gives a horror feel to it as it is dark. For a convention of a horror film, most that we watch started to build up the tension so that's what we did. We didn't go straight into the action of the girl being murdered we built it up a bit through the man stalking her first.
How the characters are introduced:
For our man character, who is the main character, we see him come out of a church and then lights up a cigarette showing his 'couldn't care less' attitude towards the holy place where he is standing. As he finishes smoking the girl also comes out of the church and walks down the path. She is introduced as an innocent character who keeps herself to herself whereas the man is shown to stalk the girl.
Special effects:
For our film opening we didn't really use any special effects as we wanted to keep it all as natural as possible because we wanted the Victorian era to be realistic. If we had have used them it would have spoiled all are hard effort of getting the costume right and the location right.
The title of the film:
We deiced to call our film 'Chapel Lane' we decided this because we liked the idea of calling the film after the place where it was set and we got the inspiration from the popular TV show, 'Ripper Street'. We also thought that this was a good name because we have set the opening in a church/graveyard which relates to the chapel. The connotations of having set our opening around a church is something that relates with horror movies as they are quite a spooky place. Naming the film after a street made the film feel like its all set in one place and you cant get away which shows the feeling of the girl in the beginning.The word 'Chapel' relates back to the Victorian era so by calling it this we made the film dated even before people watched and it gave the viewers a clear indication of when it is set and the genre. 'Chapel also has relations to religion, making the viewer think that the film is something to do with religion and churches but in reality its about a man stalking women in the Victorian era. We researched different names that we could use on the internet to see which ones we liked best, it took us quite a while because we couldn't all agree on one but in the end we found one that we all thought would suit really well.
Setting and location:
For the setting and location we had it set around a church and graveyard. I think that this is a typical setting for a horror movie. A church and graveyard give an eerie atmosphere and has an unsettling feel to it as the viewer because it can either be something that you relate to happiness such as weddings or unhappiness relating to funerals. therefore the audience aren't sure at the beginning what they should be feeling as the church door is shown in the first establishing shot. Once they find out what is going on the viewed may feel uncomfortable because what is happening is in complete contrast to the setting as it is a religious place it would be going against many religions and would be seen to be a disgusting act on Gods territory. Filming in this place made it seem more realistic as if it were really set in this time which is what we wanted, the old stone walls with bits missing out of them really captures the 'old' feeling and creepy atmosphere. When filming, as it was in a public area we had to watch out for passers by, so we had to stop filming a couple of times to let them past.
Costumes and props:
Costume was the most important thing to get right, if we didn't get the costume right then no one would believe that our film was really set in that time period. We needed the audience to believe and the easiest and most effective way was through visual costume.We chose outfits that would fit in with the era for example the man was wearing a black suit, white shirt and tie and a black top hat. this gave the audience a sense of mystery about him because he looks very formal and important someone who you could trust, but it was actually misleading because he is a violent murderer. For the girl we had her dress in a dark green dress and a black cloak. This giver her an innocent feel about her because she wants to stay covered up and doesn't show too much skin.
The props we used were a hand held mirror to show the reflection of the stalker man behind her and a cigarette that the man smokes at the beginning. The use of the mirror was to show that character as being innocent as she was just checking her make-up when she sees this man behind her. The cigarette shows the man being independent and looking a bit like trouble making the viewers wonder what hes up to.
Overall I think that our camera work was very good. We tried to stick with time and era and not using a tripod for some of the shots as they wouldn't have used them in those times. As a result of this I think it had good and bad consequences, for example it actually looked quite effected because the camera was unsteady it made the whole film opening unsteady and it came across in a creepy way, like it was the man following and it was him making it shake. On the other hand I think at times the camera was too shaky and did look a little unprofessional, most of the time you wouldn't really notice it at all but at some points its really noticeable. I think this was partly because as I said before we filmed in a public place where there was people around all the time, so sometimes we would have to stop and let them pass which unfocused us a little bit. Also because we were filming outside, some wind came along now and again a knocked the camera making it move. To set the scene and establish our characters we used some camera angles help us, for example there was a shot of the girl in the middle of the opening to show the audience where we were. We also used a close-up and extreme close-up when the man is smoking, this shows in detail what he is doing and gives an indication of what hes like. We used match on action when we see the girl walking towards the camera and then we get a shot of her looking behind, giving the feeling that she thinks someone is watching her.
For our editing we changed the picture to black and white to really capture the Victorian era. We also got rid of the diegetic sound of cars, people talking and the wind going through the camera and replaced it with non-diegetic music to add as sense of emotion. We also changed the brightness to make the piece seem more dark and mysterious.
Title font and style:
We wanted our font to look old fashioned and fit in with the Victorian era. So for this we chose an italic type font that was curly and flicky to make it look like it had been hand written by someone. It looks like old English writing, we didn't want to use a font that would be big and bold or make it look modern. We used plain colours such as the pink/peach and gray, this contrasts with the black and white filming and the whole idea as the opening is about something dark and bad the title is light and innocent. The colours look old fashioned and are not the typical red for a horror film, but I would say ours is more a thriller.
Story and how the opening sets it up:
We have set up our story is though the most important thing, costume. This immediately lets the viewers know that it is set in a different time period to ours and its the first thing they see. It is also set up with the black and white filming letting them know it old fashioned. The first character we see is the man and we see him having a smoke, then the girl is introduced and he watches her walk past. From this the viweers will get the idea that the story is evolved around these two characters and something happens after he starts stalking her. But it doesn't tell you what that is, so the audience will have to watch the rest of the film to find out.
Genre and how the opening suggests it:
The genre of our film opening is a gothic horror/thriller which is shown straight away thought the use of the Victorian costume and the black and white filming. This showed the viewers when it was set and gives a horror feel to it as it is dark. For a convention of a horror film, most that we watch started to build up the tension so that's what we did. We didn't go straight into the action of the girl being murdered we built it up a bit through the man stalking her first.
How the characters are introduced:
For our man character, who is the main character, we see him come out of a church and then lights up a cigarette showing his 'couldn't care less' attitude towards the holy place where he is standing. As he finishes smoking the girl also comes out of the church and walks down the path. She is introduced as an innocent character who keeps herself to herself whereas the man is shown to stalk the girl.
Special effects:
For our film opening we didn't really use any special effects as we wanted to keep it all as natural as possible because we wanted the Victorian era to be realistic. If we had have used them it would have spoiled all are hard effort of getting the costume right and the location right.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Finished Film Opening
Here is our finished film opening! Enjoy!
http://marthaelizahills.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/cobble-productions-presents-chapel-lane.html
Cobble Productions Presents Chapel Lane -
http://marthaelizahills.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/cobble-productions-presents-chapel-lane.html
Researching Billing
We researched on YouTube different film openings billing that had a similar genre to ours. We looked at the fonts and styles that they have used to get some inspiration for our own film opening. We wanted to use billing for the production name and the characters names. Some of the film billing that we looked at where, From Hell, Perfume, Sherlock Holmes and Sweeny Todd.
Final Music Choice
After researching music of non-diegetic sound, we found that we only sort of liked them, there seemed to be something missing. The music was either too dark and scary or too soft and sad. We wanted something in between this, something with a slight edge to it but not over the top. We finally found the piece we want to use over the top of our filming. It's an orchestral piece using instruments, which fits in with the era as they wouldn't have electrical music in the Victorian days. We chose this one because it starts off with a gentile piano and gradually it builds up the sounds creating tension.
This is the link to the music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmpnTBNCwqg
We sent an email to the composer Hugo Tromp asking whether we could use his music:
This is the link to the music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmpnTBNCwqg
We sent an email to the composer Hugo Tromp asking whether we could use his music:
Editing Our Film
We are starting to edit our filming. We edited our film opening on iMovie as we have used this before and we have some experience so we knew what we were doing. We mostly wanted to edit the actual picture because we really wanted to get the era of the film across to the audience and make it really believable. Therefore we have used different techniques to heighten the era of the film.
1) Saturation: We made our footage black and white. We did this by lowering the saturation to the bottom so that the images turn black and white. At first the idea was to create a sepia effect, but looking at both styles the filming looked best in black and white. By making the picture in back and white it makes the viewer focus on the actors and not what's going in the background so it makes you focus on the action. Also we wanted to make it as realistic as possible because in the Victorian era they wouldn't have colour.
2) Setting: We used the setting of the outside of a church with stone walls so that it gives the feel of old cobbled streets, therefore making our film opening more realistic, it goes with the codes and conventions of being a thriller as it gives a creepy atmosphere and is something you would associate with death and unhappiness.
3) Pace: We slowed down the pace of the filming, by lowering the speed. The effect of slowing down the pace makes the film opening have more suspense as the action comes slower making the viewer want to know what's going to happen next and it makes them wait for it. It also helps the viewer connect with the character and feel their emotions.
4) Sound: We reduced the volume to zero so that the viewer is not distracted by the diegetic sound. By doing this all the viewer can hear is the music which will help create tension and emotion, making them connect with our film opening.
Final Setting
This is what we decided would be our final setting. It is an old church in the center of town, it was a great choice because there where cobbled stones around the place and it looked really old and Victorian. It is a big contrast to the genre of the film and the plot, because its a dark thriller and this a a holy church which makes the whole idea of setting it here really creepy. It was also a good place to set it as it was really easy to get to and film everything we needed.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Storyboard
This is our story board for our groups film opening drawn by Issy. To get the idea we first all sat down together to talk about the order of events that the film opening should come in, we talked about what situations might happen and whether they would work because we needed to consider lighting, space, actors and whether we has enough consumes that we could use to set the era. Once we had decided what the events should be we wrote them down on a piece of paper first to see if we were happy with it and then Issy was assigned the job of drawing our ideas out.
Character Profiles
Name: Lady Penelope
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Role: This woman is the accomplice of the main character John. In the opening she gives John a look and a nod of her head across the room at the party towards John to indicate that Elizabeth is his next victim.
Costume: She has a really over the top costume, big fluffy dress.
Appearance: She has dark hair that's worn up. She is not particularly attractive, but her upper class background is blatant. Seems quite a bit older than 'Maggie' and she is plump, and pompous.
Costume: She has a really over the top costume, big dress, typical of the Victorian era. Pearls around neck to show off her obvious wealthy background.
Name: John Whitlock
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Role: This is our main character in our film opening. He comes across as a mysterious character who has an obsession with pretty women. In the opening it shows a piece of paper with women's face on it, suggesting he has either killed or done something to each of these women.
Appearance: He's tall, well built, wears black and he looks intimidating, and 'creepy'.
Costume: Wears suit, and seems respectable, he also wares a top hat to look like the typical Victorian gentleman.
Name: Elizabeth Ashdown
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Appearance: She has dark hair that's tied up she's pretty, sweet seeming. She's got a petite frame and is wealthy, but not vindictive.
Name: Maggie
Gander: Female
Age: 24
Role: This character is the maid and is used for the mise en scene mostly but is seen moving in background catering to guests. She is important as the character John has an attraction to her as well, as he does with all young women, which forebodes the danger with the other woman, Elizabeth.
Appearance: - She has blonde, long hair, blue eyes and is attractive and innocent looking.
Costume: She wears a white shirt backwards, black skirt, pinafore, black shoes and tights, hair tied back and simple make-up.
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Role: This woman is the accomplice of the main character John. In the opening she gives John a look and a nod of her head across the room at the party towards John to indicate that Elizabeth is his next victim.
Costume: She has a really over the top costume, big fluffy dress.
Appearance: She has dark hair that's worn up. She is not particularly attractive, but her upper class background is blatant. Seems quite a bit older than 'Maggie' and she is plump, and pompous.
Costume: She has a really over the top costume, big dress, typical of the Victorian era. Pearls around neck to show off her obvious wealthy background.
Name: John Whitlock
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Role: This is our main character in our film opening. He comes across as a mysterious character who has an obsession with pretty women. In the opening it shows a piece of paper with women's face on it, suggesting he has either killed or done something to each of these women.
Appearance: He's tall, well built, wears black and he looks intimidating, and 'creepy'.
Costume: Wears suit, and seems respectable, he also wares a top hat to look like the typical Victorian gentleman.
Name: Elizabeth Ashdown
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Role: This is the innocent character in the opening film. She is a young girl who is stalked by the main character - John. The party at the beginning is for her but she has left early and is then followed by John. She is the main woman character in the film and is key to the plot.
Costume: She has a dark green dress, long and pretty, and because of this she recieves a lot of male attention, and jealous attention from other females there.
Costume: She has a dark green dress, long and pretty, and because of this she recieves a lot of male attention, and jealous attention from other females there.
Appearance: She has dark hair that's tied up she's pretty, sweet seeming. She's got a petite frame and is wealthy, but not vindictive.
Name: Maggie
Gander: Female
Age: 24
Role: This character is the maid and is used for the mise en scene mostly but is seen moving in background catering to guests. She is important as the character John has an attraction to her as well, as he does with all young women, which forebodes the danger with the other woman, Elizabeth.
Appearance: - She has blonde, long hair, blue eyes and is attractive and innocent looking.
Costume: She wears a white shirt backwards, black skirt, pinafore, black shoes and tights, hair tied back and simple make-up.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Film Schedual
This is the film schedule we created, and will had to all involved before filming to let them know the timings we are following during the day of filming.
Hair, Make-up and Costume
From the voxpop that we made we dicoverd that people think that the most important convention of a period drama is the costumes that the actors wear because the audience need to believe that they are actually from that time. We also thought that we would need to research the hair and make-up of that period because they would set the scene and contribute to the victorian era.
Research of victoran hair syles:
We decided to have the girls hair tied up because we had to take into consideration that the girls actors hair is quite short.
These are some of the images that inspired us and we will try to base our actresses hair on,
Research of victorian costumes:
We decided to have the woman in a nice victorian dress and the man in a smart suit because they are both upper class.
Here are some of the images that we will try to base our actors costumes on,
Woman:
Man:
Research of victoran hair syles:
We decided to have the girls hair tied up because we had to take into consideration that the girls actors hair is quite short.
These are some of the images that inspired us and we will try to base our actresses hair on,
Research of victoran make up:
We decided to have simple make-up, so the girl would not have dark eye make-up but a little bit to emphesise her features.
These are some of the images that inspired us,
Research of victorian costumes:
We decided to have the woman in a nice victorian dress and the man in a smart suit because they are both upper class.
Here are some of the images that we will try to base our actors costumes on,
Woman:
Man:
Music
In our lessons we have been researching the music that we want to include in our film opening. We have been looking for non-diagetic sound to place over the top of the original filming to create tension and make the atmosphere more dramatic. We searched on the website 'freeplaymusic.com' to find the right music that would fit in with our genre. We started searching for horror music and found a track called 'Abandoned Infirmary' we thought that this one suited the genre well because it had an eerie feel to it.
After this we searched for eerie and scary music to see if we could find better pieces of music. It was quite difficult to find the right sound because some of the music was either too dark or not scary enough and it was hard to find music that fitted in with the victorian theme.
Abandoned Infirmary - http://www.freeplaymusic.com/search.aspx?q=horror
After this we searched for eerie and scary music to see if we could find better pieces of music. It was quite difficult to find the right sound because some of the music was either too dark or not scary enough and it was hard to find music that fitted in with the victorian theme.
Abandoned Infirmary - http://www.freeplaymusic.com/search.aspx?q=horror
Voxpop
We decided in our group that we wanted to create a horror/thriller. We put together a voxpop, asking questions based around the genre of horror and thriller. This voxpop has helped us with the creation of our film opening, and we have taken the answers given to us into account whilst planning the plot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQxS1reAgPA - This is our finished voxpop, whixh we created as part of our planning and research.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQxS1reAgPA - This is our finished voxpop, whixh we created as part of our planning and research.
Monday, 3 February 2014
Film opening script
KEY:- DS - diegetic sound
POV - point of view
SRS - shot reverse shot
LS - long shot
MS - mid-shot
WS - wide shot
CU - close-up
ECU - extreme close-up
TS - tracking shot
(DS) Music begins to play - fades in from titles to the man opening doors - view of party scene in the background. The time of day is at dusk.
MAN:- (POV) he opens doors.
- (SRS / LS) party scene in background - man walks through the doors.
- (MS) he continues walking outside then stops.
- (WS) he reaches into his pocket and takes out his cigarettes.
- (CU) he brings cigarette up to his mouth.
- (ECU / CU) he lights cigarette then inhales.
- (MS) he exhales and the billing shows up, emerging from the smoke.
(DS) footsteps of the girl is heard by the man.
- (CU) side of his face looks up and the eyes are fixed on the girl.
GIRL:- (MS) from the waist down the girls skirt is seen walking around the corner of a street.
MAN:- (LS) he drops his cigarette on the floor.
- (CU) cigarette falls into shot and his feet slowly stubs out the ciggerette and he turns to walk away.
GIRL:- (LS / TS from side) she walks down the street and stands under a street lamp, leanig against it.
- (MS) she starts to warm herself up by rubbing both her arms, whilst looking around impatiently at the clock.
MAN:- (LS) he starts to walk down the street then suddenly stops and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of rough paper.
- (CU) on the paper that has pictures of girls faces on it, each crossed out apart from one, which he gently puts his finger on.
- (LS) he puts the paper back in his pocket and continues walking.
- (TS from front) he continues walking and reaches the corner of the street.
- (CU) half of his face is behind he corner of the wall and the other half is shown, looking towards the girl.
GIRL:- (MS) she looks into her hand-mirror to powder her nose.
- (CU) she tilts the mirror slightly to one side and sees the man behind her.
- (MS) out of fright she drops the mirror.
(CU / TS) mirror falls to the ground. (slow motion)
(BLACKOUT)
(FADES IN)
MAN 2: - (LS) he is on a horse and is looking for his wife and calling her name, 'Beatrice'.
- (CU) of his face looking worried.
- (LS) he looks over and sees the mirror lying on the floor, then suddenly jumps off the horse.
- (CU) of mirror on the floor, then his hand moves into shot to pick it up.
- (CU) of his face in the broken mirror.
- (LS) of him jumping back on his horse and galloping into the distance.
(BLACKOUT)
POV - point of view
SRS - shot reverse shot
LS - long shot
MS - mid-shot
WS - wide shot
CU - close-up
ECU - extreme close-up
TS - tracking shot
(DS) Music begins to play - fades in from titles to the man opening doors - view of party scene in the background. The time of day is at dusk.
MAN:- (POV) he opens doors.
- (SRS / LS) party scene in background - man walks through the doors.
- (MS) he continues walking outside then stops.
- (WS) he reaches into his pocket and takes out his cigarettes.
- (CU) he brings cigarette up to his mouth.
- (ECU / CU) he lights cigarette then inhales.
- (MS) he exhales and the billing shows up, emerging from the smoke.
(DS) footsteps of the girl is heard by the man.
- (CU) side of his face looks up and the eyes are fixed on the girl.
GIRL:- (MS) from the waist down the girls skirt is seen walking around the corner of a street.
MAN:- (LS) he drops his cigarette on the floor.
- (CU) cigarette falls into shot and his feet slowly stubs out the ciggerette and he turns to walk away.
GIRL:- (LS / TS from side) she walks down the street and stands under a street lamp, leanig against it.
- (MS) she starts to warm herself up by rubbing both her arms, whilst looking around impatiently at the clock.
MAN:- (LS) he starts to walk down the street then suddenly stops and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of rough paper.
- (CU) on the paper that has pictures of girls faces on it, each crossed out apart from one, which he gently puts his finger on.
- (LS) he puts the paper back in his pocket and continues walking.
- (TS from front) he continues walking and reaches the corner of the street.
- (CU) half of his face is behind he corner of the wall and the other half is shown, looking towards the girl.
GIRL:- (MS) she looks into her hand-mirror to powder her nose.
- (CU) she tilts the mirror slightly to one side and sees the man behind her.
- (MS) out of fright she drops the mirror.
(CU / TS) mirror falls to the ground. (slow motion)
(BLACKOUT)
(FADES IN)
MAN 2: - (LS) he is on a horse and is looking for his wife and calling her name, 'Beatrice'.
- (CU) of his face looking worried.
- (LS) he looks over and sees the mirror lying on the floor, then suddenly jumps off the horse.
- (CU) of mirror on the floor, then his hand moves into shot to pick it up.
- (CU) of his face in the broken mirror.
- (LS) of him jumping back on his horse and galloping into the distance.
(BLACKOUT)
Group Idea For Film Opening
For our groups ideas we decided to make our film opening set in the victorian times so we can explore the costumes and make-up.
The setting is going to be in a Victorian era at the start on a house where a party is happening and then in the streets. The plot is about a man who as an infatuation with a woman and we capture him stalking her in the streets. We decided to make the timing at dusk because it would create moire tension and give the piece and eerie effect. The characters that we are going to use are the woman and the man. We decided to have minimal dialogue to help create tension and not cut up the eerie atmosphere that will be created by the music and the setting.
The setting is going to be in a Victorian era at the start on a house where a party is happening and then in the streets. The plot is about a man who as an infatuation with a woman and we capture him stalking her in the streets. We decided to make the timing at dusk because it would create moire tension and give the piece and eerie effect. The characters that we are going to use are the woman and the man. We decided to have minimal dialogue to help create tension and not cut up the eerie atmosphere that will be created by the music and the setting.
Monday, 6 January 2014
Typical Camera Shots for Different Genres
Horror camera shots:
Extremly wide shots are used
-Introducing the setting
-Show its isolation
-Give the impression of helplessness
All types of wide shots are often usd to show the figures of intuders, the shothides their identitiy but still lets us know they are present.
Close up shots are used (on the face)
-Helps us empathis with the characters
-Show their reactions and emotions
-Create suspense as the audience isn't shown the surroundings (makes the viewer anxious and frightened)
Hand held camera
-Makes it jerky and in with the action.
Thrilller camera shots:
-Close up, allows the audience to concentrate only on the face to see the specific detail, mise en scene.
-Over the shoulder, usually used when a figure is stood behind a victim, or behind someone that is not aware of the oher actors presents.
-Extreme close-up of the face wouold usually show the eyes or mouth, without background, to create a dramatic effect.
Social Realism camera shots:
-Establishing shot/long shot, sets the scene, we learn about the characters life/background.
-Importance of location in social realism
-Point of view shot, allows us to see what the character sees
-Allows us to be part of the characters experiences
-Close ups, allows us to identify with the characters motions.
Extremly wide shots are used
-Introducing the setting
-Show its isolation
-Give the impression of helplessness
All types of wide shots are often usd to show the figures of intuders, the shothides their identitiy but still lets us know they are present.
Close up shots are used (on the face)
-Helps us empathis with the characters
-Show their reactions and emotions
-Create suspense as the audience isn't shown the surroundings (makes the viewer anxious and frightened)
Hand held camera
-Makes it jerky and in with the action.
Thrilller camera shots:
-Close up, allows the audience to concentrate only on the face to see the specific detail, mise en scene.
-Over the shoulder, usually used when a figure is stood behind a victim, or behind someone that is not aware of the oher actors presents.
-Extreme close-up of the face wouold usually show the eyes or mouth, without background, to create a dramatic effect.
Social Realism camera shots:
-Establishing shot/long shot, sets the scene, we learn about the characters life/background.
-Importance of location in social realism
-Point of view shot, allows us to see what the character sees
-Allows us to be part of the characters experiences
-Close ups, allows us to identify with the characters motions.
Conventions of thrillers - Enduring Love
- Peaceful opening, nothing really happening.
-No billing to make it feel real.
-Birdsongs in the background, peaceful digetic sound like it;s calm before the storm.
-The stting is a forest, which is different to other thrillers not what you would expect.
-It's a natural setting all outdoors.
-The lighing is very bright, because the sun is shining, thus gives it a less errie atmosphere but at the same time makes you worry because you're wondering why it's so calm.
-Foreshadowong the plot to come with the balloon accident, unxpected twist.
-Digetic sound to enhance the atmosphere.
-Normally there would be dramatic music in a tense scene where the action is happening, but this one doesn't giving it a realalistic and eerie effect.
-No billing to make it feel real.
-Birdsongs in the background, peaceful digetic sound like it;s calm before the storm.
-The stting is a forest, which is different to other thrillers not what you would expect.
-It's a natural setting all outdoors.
-The lighing is very bright, because the sun is shining, thus gives it a less errie atmosphere but at the same time makes you worry because you're wondering why it's so calm.
-Foreshadowong the plot to come with the balloon accident, unxpected twist.
-Digetic sound to enhance the atmosphere.
-Normally there would be dramatic music in a tense scene where the action is happening, but this one doesn't giving it a realalistic and eerie effect.
Sunday, 5 January 2014
Conventions of horror films - The Devil Inside
-The lettering of the title was black and white, which was simple and plain. It was written in capital letters and spaced out to give it and eerie feel to it.
-No billing which gave the feeling that it was real and they were not actors but real people.
-It had a date at the beginning, which made it feel and like it was an actual event.
-It gave the name of the woman straight away making it feel like a case study because we know who she is and research had been done.
-The woman's voice on the phone sounded like a man because it was deep giving the impression that a demon has taken over.
-There where different flashes during the footage making it feel like an old projector from the 80s, this made it feel that the police document was real.
-Wobbly filming, which shows that the film is old because it worn, and has been exposed a lot.
-Hand held footage, and was sometimes out of focus making the audience feel that the footage is real, and in with the action.
-A walk through of the costumes that the characters were wearing, showing the audience that they religious.
-The setting was an old, dirty basement which gives the feeling that no one can hear you screaming.
-Lighting was very dull, morbid like you dint know whats hiding in the shadows, they used torches to make light.
-Very violent with blood splatter.
-Blunt in instruments used to show that force was really needed to make an impact.
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