Film Planning - 21/12/10

As a group, we have had to postpone starting our filming further until the beginning of January. This is because in the location we have chosen, christmas decorations will be there until this time. To ensure continuity in our footage we will not be able to start the filming until they have been taken down. We have planned to start to film on Thursday 6th January.

Film Planning - 07/12/10

In my group, we had decided to start our filming this evening, however all of the cameras were unavailable so we werent able to film.
We did discuss what things we would need to do to make our filming have good continuity.
For example, we will have to wear the same clothes every time we film, and have our hair and make-up the same each time.
We were given a SD memory card to use for whenever we decide to film. This means that all of our footage will be saved onto it, to avoid losing any or recording over anyone elses.
As a group, we now need to reshedule another date when the cameras are available for us to start our filming.

What Makes a 15 Certified Film?

I researched into what classifies a 15 film using the website; bbfc.co.uk.

A 15 certificate film means that no-one under the age of 15 is allowed to view it, rent or buy the film. Issues such as drugs and sex are accepted, however they are not permitted to be shown in detail or to encourage. Aggressive and strong language may be used throughout the film, but not to a high extent where the strongest language is repeated purposefully. Violence and horror are allowed to be shown, as long as the film does not focus on the pain or torture of the character involved for too long.

The horror opening my group will be producing is aimed to be for a 15 certified film. This means that my group will have to stay to the boundaries of the certificate guidelines at all times whilst filming.

What I have learnt from watching horror film opening credits

- From watching the opening credits to "Dawn of the Dead", "Splice" and "Mimic, I have learnt several things which we need to take into consideration when creating our own opening credits.
- As our opening will contain quite a lot of video footage, I think that it would be a good idea for my group to have the writing over the top of the footage, instead of seperately; like on the opening for "Splice".
- Also, I think that it looks most effective when the film name isn't revealed until the end, as it adds anticipation for the audience.
- The opening credits often contain the name of the main actors, and the producers and directors. This is because more people pay attention to the opening credits than they do the end ones, as the film would have already finished.
- In my opinion, short, sharp camera shots look best as they switch from one to another quickly, which adds apprehension for the film.

Mimic; Horror Opening

For my third opening, I watched the credits for the film "Mimic". Again, I took notes on what the opening credits contained.

- Starts with video footage and images.

- The camera shots are quick, and jump from one to another.

- Company is named first; Dimension films.

- Actors names flash on the screen quickly.

- Images of bugs and insects appear.

- The quickness of the shots provide confusion and anticipation to the audience.

- White angled writing.

- Flickering screen on some shots.

- People who helped in the production phases names are shown towards the end.

Splice; Horror Opening

I also watched the opening credits of the film called Splice. Like "Dawn of the Dead", I have taken note of what is displayed throughout the credits.

- The writing is displayed in white font on a black background, and the transition fades the words in and out of the screen.

- The film institution is shown first, (Warner Bro's, a Dark Castle Entertainment).

- Unknown image/video, creates an uncomfortable feeling for the audience as they are unsure what it is.

- The goes on to show actors and actresses names who star in the movie.

- Names of people who are key in the production stages such as make-up, music and special effects are shown.

- Unlike "Dawn of the Dead", the film name appears last in the opening credits.

Dawn of the Dead; Horror Opening

I watched the opening credits of the horror; Dawn of the Dead. These are the features I came across whilst watching.

- The writing was displayed with a red font, on a black background. The transition of the words coming off the screen gave the effect of dripping blood.

- The first thing that I noticed was the film company name appearing at the beginning - (Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment, New Amsterdam Entertainment).

- The transitions appeared seperately to the video clips shown.

- The film name (Dawn of the Dead) appeared in capital font, in red.

- After this, the main actors and actresses names were displayed.

- Inbetween the writing and text, a short quick video clip was shown, there was a repeated image of a face with blood flashing up on the screen between clips.

- Towards the end of the credits, producer and co-producer names are given.

- The credits end with the name of the director of the film.

- Throughout the opening credits, sinister music and appropriate sound affects were used.

Lesson 22/11/10

In todays lesson, we discussed the task we had previously been set; to be up to date with the pre-production stages of our horror film opening. We then viewed a couple of well known horror film openings to get inspiration and research for our own. We took note of features such as what appears on the screen to the audience, and what affect this gives. I have watched three film openings from www.artofthetitle.com and have taken notes of what I saw. These will be updated onto my blog shortly.

Our Chosen Location

We have chosen to use location 2, (Matthew Tyler's house), to film our horror opening. This is because we think that the layout of the house fits better with our planned storyboard. Also, it has the most important advantages which will affect the turnout of our opening. However, we need to make sure that when it comes to filming, we remove objects such as family photos to make the location look convincing and realistic.

Location Idea 3

This location idea is for Inbox(1) to be filmed at Roxie Bright's house.

Advantages;

- Spacious front room allowing wide camera movements and angles

- Double glass doors (fits in with storyboard)

- Space in the hallway to see both the kitchen and living room (as storyboard plans)

Disadvantages;

- Layout of room isn't as planned on our storyboards

- No blinds covering the double glass doors, as we need them as part of our opening

Location Idea 2

This location idea is for "Inbox(1)" to be filmed in Matthew Tyler's house.

Advantages;

- Double doors leading outside (fitting in with storyboard)

- Large main room giving plenty of room for camera movement and required shots

- Plan and layout of house easily fits in with storyboard ideas and will be filmed easily

Disadvantages;

- Family pictures on walls (will need to be removed)

- Small kitchen, possibly not much room for certain camera angles/movements

Location Idea 1

This location idea is for Inbox(1) to be filmed in Hannah's house.

Advantages;

- Has double glass doors leading onto patio (fits with storyboard)

- There is access for the camera to be able to film the kitchen and living room at the same time (a pan shot from one room to the other)

- Most of the storyboard fits with this location

Disadvantages;

- Room with double doors is not yet decorated (no curtains/blinds at the doors)

- May not have smooth continuity as the room may be getting decorated soon

Characters for "Inbox(1)"

Name: Karen Osborne Age: 42
Character name: Karen Galloway
Character age: 38
Part Description: Parent of Emma Galloway, going away for the weekend with her husband.

Name: David Osborne Age: 46
Character name: David Galloway
Character age: 41
Part Description: Parent of Emma Galloway, going away for the weekend with his wife.



Name: Connor Tullett Age: 16
Character name: Unknown
Character age: Unknown, guessed around 40.
Part Description: This character is unknown and mysterious, only seen in glances. Uses a false Facebook identity, "James Coldan" in which he uses to speak to the teenage girls, Emma and Claire.



Name: Roxanne Bright Age: 16
Character name: Emma Galloway
Character age: 17
Part Description: A teenage girl looking forward to a weekend with her best friend whilst her parents are away. Emma is an only child, and finds this isolating, therefore see's Claire as a sister figure. Emma's strong mind sometimes gets the better of her, and shows a controlling and stubbourn side to her. She manages to control her emotions and put on a front to Claire in tough times.

Name: Hannah George Age: 16

Character name: Claire Clayton

Character age: 16

Part Description: Teenage girl staying at her best friend's (Emma's) house for the weekend whilst her parents are away. Claire is seen as a bit of a flirt and is currently single. Her family have been through a tough time recently due to the death of a close relative. Emma has been very supportive and has invited her over for a chance to take her mind off things.

Storyboards for "Inbox(1)"

Above, are me and my groups updated storyboards; the ones that we used for our final footage. We changed our storyboards to fit our new idea, the reasons given in other posts on this blog. We feel we will be able to edit our footage together more easily with these storyboards, and that it will fit the horror genre better. Also, we have cut out the dialogue. In our previous storyboards (shown below), we had a lot of dialogue planned. However, the camera's sound recording isn't of a very high quality, therefore we would not be able to make it sound professional. We are confident with working with our new storyboards now we have all the footage, so we think that it will work in the editting stages of production.

Below, is me and my groups original storyboards which we are not using anymore. We did start to film our footage based on these storyboards, however after discussing our ideas, we decided it would easily go over our time limit of two minutes, and would not have enough time to emphasise the horror genre in the opening.

Lesson; 17/11/10

As a group, we discussed which location we will probably choose from to use for our filming. We then drew a rough plan of the location and made sure that our planned storyboard would fit in and work with the layout. We checked that the location had all of the requirements we would need; for example double glass doors leading to the back of the house. Also, that we would be able to place the camera in suitable positions to film the footage we had planned.

Lesson; 15/11/10

We finished the main part of our storyboard for our horror film two minute opening. However we do still need to add what opening credits we may want, and where we wish them to go. We have not done this yet, as our title "Inbox(1)" is still just a working title, therefore may be changed. Also, we have not cast our characters yet, so cannot introduce them until they are confirmed. After we had completed the main sections of the storyboard, as a group we started to discuss the possible people which we could use to cast as needed characters. Using a word document, we wrote a list of people in which we could choose from, and wrote which character that we may want them to play.

Lesson; 10/11/10

This lesson, our group continued with the process of making our storyboard. We got a lot further with this, and it is almost completed. We discussed the different sound effects which we may need in creating this opening, and we also discussed the characters which we will need to cast. We came up with a few location ideas, which we will look at later on; once the storyboard is complete.

Lesson; 08/11/10

In todays lesson, me and my group started to produce the storyboard for our final chosen idea for our horror film opening. We discussed what we wanted the opening to look like and decided on different camera shots, angles and movements which we think will make the opening effective in its purpose; to suit a teenage audience. We discussed the option of the opening containing dialogue, and have come to the decision that we will include certain sections with dialogue involved.

Our Final Chosen Idea

Our chosen idea is Idea 1. This is because we thought it would appeal the most to the teenage target audience, and was our original idea. The idea of Facebook being involved would relate to teenage viewers, and we agreed that due to costs and practicallity, we would be able to produce this opening more efficiently and realistically. This idea has a better variety of camera angles and shots which we would be able to use.

Horror Film Opening Ideas for "Inbox(1)".

Idea 1

Two teenage girls, Roxie and Hannah, are on their own for a weekend whilst their parents are away. In the evening they are on the laptop and set a facebook status saying that they have a house to themselves for a weekend. They then get a friend request (apparently being a teenager) from someone they don’t know. They then start to talk to the person on facebook chat and they act friendly; but seem to want to know why they are on their own. When Roxie goes to draw the curtains in the front, she sees a dark figure standing on the street opposite her house, talking on the phone. She thinks nothing of it, but suddenly there is a knock at the door. They don’t answer as they weren’t expecting anyone so just choose to leave it. However just a few moments later they hear slow footsteps on the outside decking at the back of the house, and glimpse a figure through the gap in the curtains. There is a loud repeated knock at the glass patio doors, so the girls go to a different room to get the house phone. When they come back to the room, the doors are slightly open, and a breeze is moving the curtains; but nobody is there. 

Idea 2

Two men are in an isolated old building a few miles away from civilisation. Surrounding them inside the building are dead bodies and severed body parts and many different tools covered in blood. One of them seems to be on the phone giving details of two teenage girls being on their own, and gives an address. There is a laptop in the corner where the other man is using the social networking site facebook. There is a flashback of girls screaming and being tortured, and panicking whilst a dark figure is standing over them – the flashback from the figures point of view. After the flashback, back in reality, is the two men putting huge sacks into the back of a van, and getting into the front; leaving a hand print in blood on the white van door. They then start to drive down a long country road towards a town where the lights of buildings can be seen in the distance. 

Idea 3

Two teenage girls are seen on the floor of a kitchen, both covered in blood. One of the girls is dead, the other is sitting up staring straight ahead of her breathing heavily. Lying on the kitchen floor, also covered in blood is a birth certificate; with a death date written over the top in the dead girls blood. The objects in the kitchen are all smashed, the windows broken, the doors off their hinges and everything is wrecked. The girl picks up a smashed photograph which is on the kitchen floor, of the two girls which was taken earlier that month. She cuts her finger on the shattered glass and more blood drips over the photo, dripping down the half with the girl who is now dead. As she is looking at it, it goes into a flashback which will then show the whole story behind what happened, and why they are left like this.  

Making Our Pitch; 01/11/10

As a group, we made our pitch for our horror film opening; working title - Inbox(1).
We introduced the synopsis for our entire film and we got approval to start the pre-production stages of the opening. The pitch was filmed and will be uploaded to this blog on a later date. From the pitch, we can now start to plan the storyboards, locations, and characters etc for our horror opening.

Lesson; 20/10/10

In todays lesson, me and my group finished preparing our pitch for our horror film. We included a working title, a synopsis of our film, and our group name and individual names. We are now ready to present this pitch on the 1st November.

Lesson; 18/10/10

During this lesson, I learnt and made notes on the three phases of the product process.
1) Pre-Production
2) Production
3) Post-Production
I read a long passage about all the different aspects of the production and how many things need to be done for a blockbuster Hollywood film to be produced.
I also learnt that the higher the budget is, generally the more profit it makes in how many millions of people watch the film.
In our groups, (mine being Hitchcock), we then started to talk about ideas for the plot of our Horror opening. We discussed the synopsis for "The Wrong Turn" and the fact that the film summary does not have any reference to the two minute opening. As a group we started to create a pitch to show the ideas for our horror film to start the production process.

Lesson; 11/10/10

In todays lesson, me and my group finished editting our preliminary task footage together. Using garageband, we created our own composition of music, which we put in the background of our film. Also, we included a title, credits, and overwriting text on two of our shots. For example, in the scene I appear in, the overwriting text was, "Starring Hannah George". We included several slide transitions, and made the sound track fade out when our dialogue was being spoken, and fade back in once it had been said. Although it does not match our storyboards exactly, I think that the storyboards helped greatly in filming our preliminary task, as it helped us know what type of shots and camera movements to use. Once the film was complete, we saved it as a quicktime movie on the desktop.

Preliminary Task Storyboards

These are the storyboards me and my group created to plan our preliminary task. In each box we had a different shot, camera angle and movement. We used this to also plan our locations as to where to film our footage.

For our preliminary task filming, we didn't keep exactly to the location and shots of our original storyboard, however we kept the main idea the same with the same dialogue.  

Film Opening of "The Wrong Turn"

As I watched the opening few minutes of "The Wrong Turn", a teen horror film, I noticed the visual and audio effects used which create an effective horror opening. I also saw that the opening of this horror film is very similar to a lot of other films, in the type of setting which is used, and the different camera shots and music/sound effects.

The scene started with an establishing shot of the isolated setting - a huge forest. The camera then used a tracking movement to show the whole of the forest from a birds eye view, getting faster towards where the characters location was, which added apprehension for the viewer. The camera then stops with a birds eye view angle, of a teenage boy and girl climbing up the side of a steep rock face. The angle used emphasises the danger in their activity.

As they are climbing, a false scare is used when the teenage girl drops slightly down the rock face. This is to shock the audience and make them think something bad is about to happen, however when it doesn't; the audience feel relieved and don't expect what is going to happen next.

Stereotypically, the boy reaches the top first. An eye-level camera shot is used to show the audience his point of view and what he can see from the top. Language from the girl shows that this film is based for a teenage audience as she is trying to get the boy to help her to the top.

Anticipation is created in the audience from this point as the boy seems to have disappeared. Camera angles such as low angle and high angle shots are used to emphasize the fact she is on her own and in danger. 

A typical convention is used, blood dripping from the boys face. The audience do not see the antagonist involved, and they do not see what happens to the boy; all the know is that he has been killed. This adds tension to the opening and makes the audience feel unnerved. 

Several close ups are used to show key parts of the scene. For example, a close up of the knife cutting the rope, a close up of the boys face to show the blood and a close up of the jagged wire that the girl trips on at the end of the opening. These show the audience what is happening and make them seem more dramatic as they are the focus of the shot.

The camera is hand held when the girl is running away (a typical chase scene). This jolts the camera and creates the feeling of danger, the unknown and panic. This is a common effect used in the filming of horror movies.

Audio used in the opening of "The Wrong Turn" is also very effective, as the visual aspects are. Orchestral music is played, which are lingering string instrument sounds which create quite a sinister atmosphere. The music tempo picks up as the girl is being chased. At dramatic parts of the opening, loud drums are played to represent key sections; for example, the view of the blood on the boys face.  

The boy quotes, "who are you screaming for, there's nobody around for 50 miles." which re-enforces the fact they are in an isolated location; almost asking for something bad to happen.

There are enhanced sound effects throughout the opening. For example, the sound of the blood dripping, the knife cutting the rope, and the harness being pulled upwards. The sound of the girls heavy breathing when she runs creates the feeling of panic and desperation, and it is at this part of the opening when the music tempo increases.

When the antagonist is chasing the girl, you can not see them however you can see the trees being moved and rustling, so that the audience can keep track of where they are.

Overall, it is a very effective opening of a horror film; although very similar to others such as "Dead Wood". It contains a variety of camera angles and movement, and also a range of sound effects which are typical for this particular genre.

Editting Prelim Task - 08/10/10

Me and my group started to edit the footage for our preliminary task. We spent an hour on this, and included different camera angles and movements and made sure that when the shot changed, we looked at each frame to make sure there were no mistakes. We have yet to include sound effects and music, and also create transitions between some of our shots.

Lesson; 06/10/10

In todays lesson, we watched the opening for the horror film, "Wrong Turn". Whilst watching, I wrote down notes about the visual ways that the opening is effective to create tension to the audience, and also the audio and sound effects used. As a class we then watched the opening again and whilst it was playing, we discussed the different conventions, camera angles, shots and movements, and sound effects used to create a very effective opening to a horror film. We watched this to help us when we come to creating our own horror film openings.

Lesson; 04/10/10

During this lesson, we discussed the four main areas of horror film conventions as a class; and what we would expect to see in horror films. We then watched the openings of three different horror films, (Jeepers Creepers, Jeepers Creepers 2 and Dead Wood), to see what techniques and conventions were used. This was to get ideas and inspiration for our own 2 minute opening for when we start to produce our storyboards for our main task.

The horror filmView more presentations from hannahgeorgekba.

A power point presentation giving a brief history of the horror film genre, and also some information about the horror film, "The Exorcist".

30/09/10

Me and my group did the filming for our preliminary task today in our free study time. We filmed roughly 5 - 10 minutes of footage using different camera shots, movement and angles; which we then downloaded onto the macs after school.

Lesson; 29/09/10

In todays lesson I found out about the conventions of horror films, and the history behind the horror genre and made notes on this to then create my own power point presentation on it.

Lesson; 27/09/10

In this lesson, for the first half; me and my group took one of the video cameras and tripods and filmed footage practising for our preliminary task. We did this for about 50 minutes and made sure we had all the footage which we could then edit together to create our clip. For the second half of the lesson, i used Final Cut Express 4 on the macs and continued to edit the footage together that I started last lesson. I also learnt a few details about how to use the software.

Lesson; 22/09/10

In todays lesson, me and a partner learnt how to use the Final Cut Express 4 software. We experimented with it by editting an already made clip into a piece of film that made sense when put together.

Lesson; 20/09/10

In this lesson, in our groups we got given a group name. The name for my group is "Hitchcock" because it is the surname of a famous film director. In our groups, we completed our storyboards for the preliminary task. I learnt how to use the video cameras and the tripods and made notes on this.

Lesson; 15/09/10

In this lesson, I took note of the different camera shots, angles and movements. I wrote down the names of them, and wrote a definition next to each. In our groups, we started to produce the storyboard for our preliminary task.

What i've done so far

In my Media Studies course, so far I have completed several tasks.
I have created and set up my blog account, and also my slideshare account. I can use these to post my work and powerpoint presentations I create thoughout the course.
I have also learnt the key words and media language needed.
I've created my first post on my blog, and tested my email account which I will be using through the course.
I am aware of the preliminary task which I have to complete. For this, I had to get into a group of 2 or 3 people. There are three people in my group. I am familiar with all the different camera shots and angles there are, after having watched two clips explaining them and when they should be used.

My First Post

This is my first post to my blog.