Coursework overview

          Over the Christmas holidays I have been keeping up to date with my A3 coursework book, I have been completing my research into other films of the horror genre. I created a timeline of horror films over the last century and looked deeply into how horror movies have progressed both with theme as well as quality of the production. From some of the very earliest films like Frankenstein to some of the more modern horrors like Paranormal activity.

          I have also been concentrating on documenting all of the development work between and during making our final production in order to gather a clear understanding of what went well and not so well over the project. This has helped to increase the quality of some evaluation techniques and ideas also on how to improve our final film during our last editing session when we go back for the spring term. 

          I have also began to make notes on how our final production is going to differ from our original storyboard, which (I have discovered) will be quite drastic. This is because we made the decision during editing that all of the footage (apart from the final shot of the book) that was shot in the shed would (if included) create a very disjointed feel to the whole film opening, and over complicate the plot.

          When we get back to school we plan to fine tune all editing on the macs and complete our final product ready to show in our first lesson.

Opening credits and film institution logo

          We decided on a font (using 1001 fonts as a search engine) in which to write our film institution title which would become our logo. We had to choose a font that would be both decorative enough to allow us to only use the text as the logo (as we thought this would be a very effective form of logo design), and simple enough to be easily readable. We finally decided on ghastly panic as we felt it showed the horror genre well and was otherwise very suitable for our particular film opening with its stylistic edge. Here are some screen shots made during the production of our logo:

  

Here are the two final drafts of the logo which we had to choose from (we decided on the second as we felt it had more consistency) :

          We had previously decided on a font for our opening credits (bohemian typewriter font) as we felt it tied in with our theme and was clean and precise and easily readable. here are the picture documents of our opening titles:

Research into age certificates

          I looked into some age certificate definitions to research a possible certificate or age rating for our film opening. Here are some examples of other age certificates for popular horror films.
Paranormal activity: 15
Final destination: 15
Saw: 18
Birds: 15
Dracula (1931): PG
Thirteen ghosts(2001): 15
          The majority of horror films I looked into had an age certificate of 15, some of the older ones however had a lower age rating which I think is due to the lack of new technology available at the time of production. Some of the more psychological plots seem to have a lower age rating than the physically gruesome films like saw.

          Overall I feel for the lack of vivid brutality seen in our film opening a (15) age certificate would be suitable.  

Editing up to now

            In our first editing session we realised that our shots were actually in the wrong format for final cut express. After seeking advice from our tech support in school charlie managed to find an online converter which would convert our files into mp4 so after a few failed attempts we managed to get our files loaded and rendered onto final cut. After importing our files we began to watch them back and get them into some sort of order. We realised here just how many extra shots we actually filmed and have since deleted a few of the shots in order to make the film as a whole easier to work with. 

          Our first main task has been to cut shots and edit some to black and white (which we are using to show a flash back).

(Left) Here we went into the colour converter menu and changed the colour filter by altering the saturation to zero. This worked well and from here we also altered the brightness of some of the black and white shots in order to make them more visible (especially in the panning down shot of ellie next to the lamp post which was exceedingly dark).

         We also really wanted to make use of the effects in final cut and create some cross fades in order to shorten the shot of the flash of the Polaroid camera and also to continue the noise of the flash after the actual on screen shot had finished playing. This effect is useful because we only wanted to use the flash as a kind of splitter between scene's (See screen shot right). We also used the cross fades to create some interesting flashes of shots in order to emphasise the disorientation and vulnerability of our victim on the cross.

        

         Next we used the colour filter tool bar again to edit the lighting more in some shots to make them look better as we filmed with two different cameras and one was better quality than the other (this also helped with improving our continuity, see screen shot left).

         Today we managed to make real progress in ordering and cutting quite a few of our shots. We made the important decision of not using the shots from inside the shed as we felt that if they were included, they would have made the piece look very disjointed and hard to follow as there would be far too many different loactions to focus on.

         

         We plan to put in a few extra editing hours this week in order to make lots more progress and meet our deadline of this friday, we may stay for an hour after school today (as we did last night). The editing process is going well so far and there have been few disagreements.

Final filming session.

           On Sunday 20th of November Charlie Chalkley and Amy Wootten re-filmed scenes 3 and 15 as me and Ellie duckles were unavailable and we felt the first takes of those shots filmed on the 13th of November didn't turn out as we had hoped. We viewed the new takes as a group and were happy with the new results.
           Following the re-filming of those two shots we decided we would film the remaining night shots of our opening after school on the 21st of November. We ran in to a few difficulties when filming as we didn't allow for the camera not being able to adjust to the poor light conditions. We resolved this problem by using torch's (which charlie chalkley managed to get from his house) and the torch's on our phones, the light conditions significantly improved from then on. We also filmed some extra footage that we felt would work in our opening; we shot Ellie kicking off her shoe as she was running from the villain at a low angle shot and we also shot Ellie running past the stationary camera.
             On the following Tuesday we managed to get into the 'mac' room at school with intentions to watch through all our footage and begin editing. Although, we realised that the majority of our footage was filmed in the wrong format for we are now in the process of attempting to convert our files into a format that 'final cut' will accept.

See below a revised filming schedule:

Filming

           Today we had our first day of filming for our main task. We had planned to begin filming yesterday but couldn't as a few people were not available so we now plan to complete the rest of the filming next Saturday on the 19th. We made very good progress today completing shots 7, 11, 15, 17, 19, 24, 25, 27 and 28. We also filmed some extra footage of a saw in the shed covered in blood etc. Here are some images taken of two characters and the locations we filmed in.

Our victim.

Our killer.

 Inside the shed(not able to rotate this one).

                                                                  Inside the shed.

                                                     A shot of the crime scene and crucifix.

Our forensic officer.

The evidence bag.

Film concept in 25 words.

A religious extremist serial killer begins to re-write the bible by keeping a scrap book of the 'sinning' young girls he brutally crucifies and murders.

Preliminary task completed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23IhJD4JRXo&feature=youtu.be

Shooting schedule for main task.

• We plan to complete most of our filming this weekend in Baldock.
• I'm trying to get some sheets of wood to construct the crucifix for this weekend so that we have the opportunity to complete the filming.
• We also need to make the book complete with text of 'The Crucifixion' for which we are going to use a tippex pen on my old art book.
• Charlie is going to order the film to create the flashes of the Polaroid camera. 
• We also need to clear out Amy's shed so it can be suitable for filming.
• We also need to label a plastic bag for evidence and buy some police tape.
• Ellie already has some clothes that can be used for her original 'prostitute outfit' and we are going to use a bed sheet to cover in fake blood and wrap her in for the shot of her on the cross.
• We will use Ellie's old extensions for the lock of hair in the evidence bag. 
• We've decided that the actress we are going to ask to do the voice over of the news report is Hannah Reynolds, we intend to record it during the next two weeks and add it in during editing.

Preliminary task.

The brief we were given for our preliminary task was to create:
           A continuity task involving filming and edited a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task must demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and 180 degree rule.


           We decided to link our preliminary task theme to our main task theme in some way. the storyline we looked to create for our preliminary task is as follows:

• A religious extremist (charlie) kidnaps a young girl (Ellie) who is 'not pure' and attempts to make her pure by torture and murder.
• He recites a passage from the bible regarding sin:

Charlie: Isaiah 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.


Ellie: (distressed) Where am i?!


Charlie: (calm) You're in a good place.

Ellie: What are you doing to me?!

Charlie: I'm going to make you pure.


(The religious man stabs the girl and the scene ends with a black screen and a high pitched scream)

           Our next decision was to make the film appear in black and white in order to give a darker theme and create a more eerie atmosphere. We used one of the schools' 'flip cam's' to film our preliminary task as it is small and compact and simple but effective to use. Here is a plan of the shots used:

• We pan in (using a tripod) to Ellie tied to a chair struggling in a white dress (White because it is seen as a pure colour). A flash of light (created by the movement of a curtain) is used to make her visible in the dark room where we filmed.
• We then use shot/reverse shot to show her hands (tied up) behind the chair. the shot switches back to a close up of her face for more dramatic effect.
• The next shot pans up to a low angle shot of charlie entering the room through a door slowly.
• The next is a mid shot of charlie reciting the passage from the bible, The dialogue exchanged here is where we use the 180 degree rule through alternate over the shoulder shots of each character. 

• Between the lines "What are you doing to me?!" and "I'm going to make you pure." is where the match on action shot is used in charlie slamming down the bible on a table next to Ellie which are both mid shots.

• The next shot is an over the shoulder shot of Ellie with the line "I'm going to make you pure".
• The final shot is a mid, over the shoulder shot of Charlie pulling the knife out of his pocket and leaning forward. The screen now fades to black.
• On the black screen, a scream is heard.

            Throughout the whole 1:01 minute sequence a slow drone is hear which we added during editing and the sound of the door opening was also added during editing. We edited out shots using imovie on the mac computers in school. We found the sound effects in imovie and the precision editor extremely useful. We filmed our preliminary task in the drama studio and the drama studio annex, turned all the lights off and closed the blinds to create the eerie atmosphere of an old abandoned warehouse.

Media conference in London on the 4th of November

           On the 4th of November most media students in sixth form attended a media conference at the institute of education in London which included guest speakers from all area's of the media. I found the trip an extremely inspirational experience and it opened my mind to all different occupations within the media and in film production. The theme of the day was media representation of the London riots and how big a part they played in them. We were encouraged to take notes on the speakers so below i have shown what I took note on during the day:

David Buckingham of the institute of education

Media representation of young people focusing on the summer riots

• The types of negative language used creates a very negative image of the youth of today "Flaming morons", "Yob rule", "Hoodies" and "Ferrel youth".
• The riots are said to have been caused by the police shooting of a young man in Tottenham and a peaceful protest escalating  into people demanding answers.
• 40% of articles on young people are related to crime.
• 71% of articles are negative.

"Women in journalism - 2008" look into youth representation in the media:

• 72% or articles regarding young people were negative.
• Only 3.4% were positive.
• The majority of positive youth representation was regarding young people who had been killed or come to an untimely death.

Barnardo's discovered 50% of adults believe that children are out of control.

The role of the media in the Summer riots 

• Social networking was apparently used to organise the riots (blackberry messenger etc.)
• The media put a lot of blame on aggressive and violent themes in rap music and video games.
• How different issues are 'framed' plays a big part in the public's impression of the issues. If only half of the story is told then this can completely manipulate the public's opinions of it. The same manipulation can be brought about by broadcast and print journalists expressing their own opinions in a very persuasive way.
• People who have authority speak about issues which they are by no means experts on.
• The Bankers and politicians issues with expenses etc. is an issue raised with regards to someone to blame for the riots. They are said to be setting a bad example for the general public, all of the expense 'fiddling' is also an element which causes the public to lose respect for those authority figures which, in turn, causes rebellion.

Christine Bell - examiner for WJEC
Research into Doctor who - one of the BBCs longest running text's. What makes it so successful?

• Complex and appealing narrative.
• The appeal of 'The doctors' character "I'm not a hero, i'm just a mad man with a box."
• Strong representation of women in 'Amy Pond' and 'River Song'.
• High production values.
• Audience involvement via the website.
• Respected script writers.
• Popular spin off's such as 'Tourchwood' and 'The Sarah Jane adventures'.
• Broad target audience.
• Re-invents itself for new generations, always improving.
• Loyal fans.
• Escapism.
• Expectations which carry it through not so spectacular episodes.
• Social interactions via the website and social networking websites such as facebook.

Steph Henry - examiner for AQA
A look into cross-platform media focusing on Being Human
            Steph Henry looked at the popular TV series 'Being Human' based around young people experiencing human life in a supernatural body. She explained how the series has an extremely strong online presence with constant updates on newly running series' for keen viewers. She went into depth about how interactive and Internet access for viewers of the TV show is very important in promoting it. There are some clips from the show, character profiles and voicemails from the show which are only available on the Internet which encourages the audience to become more involved with the programme.
           She also mentioned briefly a spin off from 'Being human' called 'Becoming human' following the life of a character (adam) who only had a brief appearance in the main show. This spin off is also only available on the Internet and so encourages the audience again to be more involved in the series.

Pete Fraser - examiner for OCR who was unable to make the conference however his presentation was still shown 
Top tips for making your production better:

• Look at lots of examples!
• Focus on audio and its effectiveness.
• Make sure titles look professional.
• Keep camerawork professional and eliminate continuity errors.
• Make sure setting and costumes are well organised and realistic.
• Ensure actors are well rehearsed and given good direction.
• Editing should take a considerably long time and be done well.
• Make sure the narrative is effective but not overly complicated.

9 Key words to focus on:

• Research - Look into other horror films and keep evidence of all research.
• Planning - Record everything, organise yourself and show your journey.
• Evidence - Show storyboards, photo's of your locations etc.
• Ideas - Keep ideas and plans simple and realistic, make it simple enough to fit into a 25 word pitch.
• Get feedback - From peers and teachers, take notice and respond accordingly.
• Logistics - Share contact details and be prepared with; people, props and costume. Rehearse all scenes. 
• Equipment - Use the equipment to the best of its ability, practise and prepare.
• Production - Always shoot extra material, its better to have too much than not enough!
• Reflection - Reflect on all work throughout, look to your teacher for advice.

http://www.petesmediablog.blogspot.com/

Garth Jennings - On his life as a director

Examples of his work:

• Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.
• Son of Rambo - which he wrote and directed.
• Fatboy slim - right here right now.
• Blur - Coffee and TV.
• The PG Tipps 'monkey and Al' adverts.
• Ali G title sequence.
• How to train your dragon.
• Vampire weekend - cousins.

           Jennings started out making short films as a child and then went on to do and art foundation course and then a production course at university. He explained to us how he still works with the people he met at university today. His lifestyle and story was extremely inspirational and i feel now that direction and production are areas of the media which i may well like to go into in the future.

Babita Sharma (Broadcast journalist for BBC World) and Paul lewis (Print journalist for the Guardian).

Babita Sharma

• Attended cardiff university.
• Applied for a postgraduate degree but didn't get accepted.
• Took a gap year and moved to Dubai where she "experienced life a bit more".
• Started at her BBC local radio station.
• Now has a permanent slot on BBC World from 1am to 4am.

Paul Lewis

• Attended Cambridge university studying social and political science.
• Started as a free-lance journalist.
• Got a trainee-ship at The Guardian.
• Moved up and is now a very well respected print journalist.

Both Babita and Paul were really inspirational, it made me realise that to move forward in journalism you just have to be committed and hard working, and with that commitment almost anything it possible.

All in all, a good day.

Lesson 4 on our own horror movie opening - our finished storyboard.

During lesson 4 we worked primarily on drawing up a final storyboard and got up to shot 13, here is our storyboard:

We did not specify shot times as we're not sure how to be specific until filming.

Target audience survey and results.

Please indicate your age range:

- 13-15

- 16-18

- 19-21

- 22-24

- 25+

How often do you watch horror/ thriller films:

- Once a week

- Once a month

- Once every six months

- Once a year

- Never 

What do you look for in a Horror film?

- Graphic fight scenes with good special effects 

- A psychological storyline that makes you become more deeply involved in the narrative

- A well known director and starring actors/ actresses

- Good reviews by reliable sources

- If other please specify:

...................................................................................................................................................................................................

Where do you watch horror films and why?

- In the cinema

Why? ....................................................................................................................................................................................

- On the internet

Why? ....................................................................................................................................................................................

- On dvd/ blu-ray

Why? ....................................................................................................................................................................................

- On a mobile device

Why? ....................................................................................................................................................................................

Do you use any social networking sites? (tick more than one if necessary)

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Myspace

- Tumblr

- Windows live messenger

- Google+

- If other please specify:

....................................................................................................................................................................................

Where do you find out about new horror film releases?

- Friends

- Social Networking 

- Newspapers

- Magazines 

- TV programmes 

- Film award ceremonies for example the BAFTAs

How much do you spend on watching films of the horror genre within a month (including cinema trips)?

- £0.00-£5.00

- £5.50-£10.00

- £10.50-£15.00

- £15.50-£20.00

- £20.00+

Thank you for your time.

See detailed analysis of results in A3 coursework book.

Essay style analysis of 'The dark knight' opening sequence.

The introduction of the film institutions creates a dark atmosphere from the beginning. The logos are shown in very dark colours suggesting dark themes to continue for the rest of the film. Meanwhile, quite eerie, realistic, non-diegetic sounds of wind and the odd drum beat contributes to the atmosphere during the film institution logo's. A faint, sustained note begins playing after the logos and with the first establishing shot of rooftops comes a single beat of a drum, this creates a sense of anticipation and begins to build tension.

Establishing shot switches to a mid shot of a man wearing a clown mask, the mask plays on the common fear of clowns leaving the audience to establish that he is the bad guy.

After the window is smashed the picture goes back to ground level where a man dressed in dark clothing (dark clothing gives negative imagery confirming that the masked men are indeed the bad guys). The shot gradually zooms in to another variation of the clown mask making the two characters already introduced linked. Again the clown mask being used to create negative imagery and possibly scare the audience.

A black truck pulls up next to the man in dark clothing and the man enters. As the truck pulls up an up tempo beat starts playing, this suggests there is more action to come or even that a plan is beginning to unfold. After we see the two men from the very first shot use a zip wire to get onto the roof of another building the shot switches back to the men in the car who we now discover are all wearing the clown masks. This forms the idea of all the men being part of a gang, the audience is gradually understanding more about the potential plot.

An over the shoulder shot is used to view the two men’s conversation in the front two seats as well as allowing the audience to see the man in the back seat loading a gun. A gun is an extremely common prop used to allow the audience to establish the genre and used mainly here to confirm suspicions that some kind of elaborate scheme is about to take place (possibly theft).

The two men in the front two seats begin talking about shares in money, their gruff voices, colloquialisms and general dialect suggest a low status as well as stereotyping them as gangsters or professional criminals.

The two men in the front seats also mention ‘the joker’ for the first time, this hooks in audience members who know the batman saga well as he is a main character (it also allows those audience members to almost laugh at the naivety of the masked men “huh, he thinks he can sit it out and still take a share”). But for those audience members who so not know the series of films well, the mention of ‘the joker’ is very thought provoking, if even merely through his abnormal name. Which again is a hook to make the audience want to keep watching.
Further physical descriptions of the joker are mentioned from the two men on the roof, “I heard he wears make-up”, this is again thought provoking for those who don’t know of the jokers character. Physical descriptions make the audience await the entrance of the character which is another hook.

A high-angle shot of the men positioned on the roof switches to a low angle shot of the man who was sitting in the back of the car. This direct contrast to the previous shot singles out the character as being the most dominant suggesting he could go on to be a stronger character or even a main character. 

As the men run into what appears to be a bank, they begin shouting creating a busy atmosphere. This appeals to the target audience of the action adventure genre, sparking the adrenalin rush they seek in these films.

The first killing of the sequence takes place on the roof, his ease in committing murder is quite distressing for the audience yet the presence of so many armed men suggests this will not be the only death.

The killer then grabs a holdall and proceeds with a fast pace down several stairs to a vault. This makes it now obvious a theft will take place. The picture then returns back to the main lobby where a man wearing a suit (presumed to be the manager of the bank) fires a gun through the window of his office. Through the use of a gun by a man working in the bank it becomes clear that this is not a usual or even perhaps a strictly legal bank. This is later confirmed with “do you have any idea who you‘re stealing from?!” shouted by the man wearing a suit with the shot gun.

After the shot is fired at one of the masked men it becomes clear that the man singled out at the very beginning is the only one unharmed. He then fires several shots at the man wearing the suit. Staring down at the injured man the masked man tilts his head slightly in a kind of inquisitive way which is quite frightening for the audience.

The man singled out becomes the only man that the audience sees as really scary suggesting again he may be a main character.

When the picture moves back to the vault one of the men says “I guess the joker‘s as crazy as they say”. This is one of the final solid references to him leaving the audience with a negative impression of the joker who they are still anticipating the entrance of. Bags are loaded with money showing the plan to be successful. The two remaining masked men have a stand off where the 180 degree rule is used.

They circle each other lead by the man who’s not got his gun up which is quite puzzling until we realise what he was trying to do. The bus drives through the wall and knocks over the man with his gun held up, the other man was just trying to get him in the right position. This suggests that he knows more about the plan than the others.

After the final member of the gang is killed it becomes clear who the ring leader is and as he de-masks himself we see that the joker has been there all along. He creates a negative view of his own character with the line “What doesn‘t kill us only makes us stranger.” The audience now sees the scars and still wants to know more about him which is another hook after one has finally come to its climax. The opening sequence ends with the school bus (an unusual get-away vehicle) driving out into the perfect camouflage.