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".