Due to continuity, we were unable to film on thursday as our location has christmas decorations and this would affect the horror aspect of our opening.
We, as a group have chosen to begin our filing in January as the problem will be eliminated then. We are still on track for our filming to be completed by February.
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Pre-production
As a group, Hitchcock have been discussing the times of when we're going to meet up and film. So far we have decided every other thursday evening as it will be dark enough to create the horror feel and this time suits all of the characters.
We have also been thinking of continuity:
-outfits should be the same every filming session
-aspects such as hair and makeup should be kept the same every filming session
-jewellery and nail varnish will be kept the same
The two teenage girl characters will be wearing typical clothes such as hoodies, jeans and ugg boots with makeup and jewellery to show the audience that they're your typical teenagers which help the film viewers to relate.
Our next stage is to recieve a SD card from sir so that all of our footage can be kept in one place safety as possible errors could occur such as:
-using a different camera
-over filming the footage
-another group accidentally deleting footage
We have also been thinking of continuity:
-outfits should be the same every filming session
-aspects such as hair and makeup should be kept the same every filming session
-jewellery and nail varnish will be kept the same
The two teenage girl characters will be wearing typical clothes such as hoodies, jeans and ugg boots with makeup and jewellery to show the audience that they're your typical teenagers which help the film viewers to relate.
Our next stage is to recieve a SD card from sir so that all of our footage can be kept in one place safety as possible errors could occur such as:
-using a different camera
-over filming the footage
-another group accidentally deleting footage
Sunday 5 December 2010
Film opening; 'Mimic'
For my first opening; I watched the credits for the film "Mimic".
I took notes on what the opening credits consisted of.
Starts with video footage and images,
The camera shots are quick, and jumpy in motion,
The company is the first credit to be names; Dimension films,
Actors names flash on the screen quite fast in speed,
Images of insects appear,
The quickness of the shots provide confusion and anticipation to the audience,
Angled, white writing,
Flickering screen on some shots,
People who helped in the production phases names are shown towards the end as these would probably be considered as less important to people such as directors..
I took notes on what the opening credits consisted of.
Starts with video footage and images,
The camera shots are quick, and jumpy in motion,
The company is the first credit to be names; Dimension films,
Actors names flash on the screen quite fast in speed,
Images of insects appear,
The quickness of the shots provide confusion and anticipation to the audience,
Angled, white writing,
Flickering screen on some shots,
People who helped in the production phases names are shown towards the end as these would probably be considered as less important to people such as directors..
Monday 22 November 2010
completed storyboards
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
opening titles
In today lesson we discussed how to use the opening titles of a film effectively. We looked at 3 famous film openings on the website 'www.artofthetitles.com' and i've written notes to these. We also discussed how effective it is to put opening credits on top of video or slotted inbetween clips. Whilst watching the openings i noted down what information is given to the audience;
director
editor
main casting role actors/actresses
screenplay
production company
film title
and some openings had a few other less important roles shown.
director
editor
main casting role actors/actresses
screenplay
production company
film title
and some openings had a few other less important roles shown.
British Board Of Film Classification
As our film has a target audience of teenagers and the certificate of 15, i completed this research on the british board of film classification:
These are the official restrictions that our group will have to abide by during filming tasks:
Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. .
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
These are the official restrictions that our group will have to abide by during filming tasks:
Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. .
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
location idea three
This is our third loaction idea.
Advantages: large open space
:large back doors leading onto a concrete surface which works with our opening
Disadvantages: not yet decorated
: the continuity will not flow as the room becomes decorated
location idea two (our groups prefered choice)
This is our second idea and overall; our favoured choice for our horror film opening task.
Advantages: large area
: good layout of furniture to menuver around
: back double doors with decking
Disadvantages: none
Advantages: large area
: good layout of furniture to menuver around
: back double doors with decking
Disadvantages: none
location idea one
These are images of my front room which could be a possible location for our film idea.
Advantages: large surrounding area (easy camera access points can be set up)
Advantages: large surrounding area (easy camera access points can be set up)
:open space for many angles
:double back door which occurs in our horror opening
Disadvantages: no decking which we thought could create a good sound effect
:layout of the room isn't as planned on our story boards
:double back door which occurs in our horror opening
Disadvantages: no decking which we thought could create a good sound effect
:layout of the room isn't as planned on our story boards
character descriptions
Name: Roxanne Bright
Age: 17
Character Name: Emma Galloway
Character Age: 17
Part Description: Teenage girl looking forward to a weekend with her best friend whilst her parents are away. Emma is an only child and she finds this isolating, she now sees Claire as a sisterly figure to look after. Emma’s strong mind sometimes gets the better of her and often leads to her being seen as quite a controlling, spoilt and stubborn teen, but this is just a fraction of her personality. She manages to control her emotions to put on a front for Claire in her tough times.
Name: Hannah George
Age: 16
Character Name: Claire Clayton
Character Age: 16
Part Description: Teenage girl staying at her best friends house for the weekend, as Emma’s parents are away. Claire is seen as a bit of a flirt and is currently single. However she gets emotional easily and scares herself. Her family have been through a tough time due to the death of a relative. Emma has been very supportive and invited her over for a chance to get away from the idea of death.
Name: Connor Tullett
Age: 17
Character Name: Unknown
Character Age: Guessed around 40
Part Description: This character is unknown and mysterious, and only seen using glances. They go by the name of “James Colden” on a false Facebook account, in which they use to chat to the two teenage girls.
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.
Age: 17
Character Name: Emma Galloway
Character Age: 17
Part Description: Teenage girl looking forward to a weekend with her best friend whilst her parents are away. Emma is an only child and she finds this isolating, she now sees Claire as a sisterly figure to look after. Emma’s strong mind sometimes gets the better of her and often leads to her being seen as quite a controlling, spoilt and stubborn teen, but this is just a fraction of her personality. She manages to control her emotions to put on a front for Claire in her tough times.
Name: Hannah George
Age: 16
Character Name: Claire Clayton
Character Age: 16
Part Description: Teenage girl staying at her best friends house for the weekend, as Emma’s parents are away. Claire is seen as a bit of a flirt and is currently single. However she gets emotional easily and scares herself. Her family have been through a tough time due to the death of a relative. Emma has been very supportive and invited her over for a chance to get away from the idea of death.
Name: Connor Tullett
Age: 17
Character Name: Unknown
Character Age: Guessed around 40
Part Description: This character is unknown and mysterious, and only seen using glances. They go by the name of “James Colden” on a false Facebook account, in which they use to chat to the two teenage girls.
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.
Monday 15 November 2010
storyboards
As a group, we decided that our first idea would be the most practical and work the best. We have decided on our cast and which characters they will play in our opening. The Hitchcock group have now completed the storyboarding for our film 'Inbox(1)'. We feel asthough we've used lots of different camera angles and movements with this. I will be taking pictures of them shortly.
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.
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.
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Production
In a previous lesson i learnt about the three production phases;
pre-production
production
post production
While studying these, we read a passage about how a top hollywood film company would go about a movie from start to finish. I learnt that most of the time is spent in the pre-production process rather than the other aspects and that the general concept of finance is; the higher the budget, the more profit and popularity. However there are some exceptions to this for example; the blair witch project which was a low budget film with a high return.
As well as this; in our 'Hitchcock' group; we have started to decide what the storyline to our 2minute horror opening will be. We've had many ideas and think that we now have a final idea that we can work from ready to pitch later.
pre-production
production
post production
While studying these, we read a passage about how a top hollywood film company would go about a movie from start to finish. I learnt that most of the time is spent in the pre-production process rather than the other aspects and that the general concept of finance is; the higher the budget, the more profit and popularity. However there are some exceptions to this for example; the blair witch project which was a low budget film with a high return.
As well as this; in our 'Hitchcock' group; we have started to decide what the storyline to our 2minute horror opening will be. We've had many ideas and think that we now have a final idea that we can work from ready to pitch later.
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Monday 11 October 2010
preliminary task
Today; our group (Matthew Tyler, Hannah George and I) took two hours to create the finished edited version of out preliminary task. We added transactions and many angles to our film and also created our own track on 'Garage Band' which we then added and this went well. Our film has now been transferred into a quicktime player copy which we could then burn onto a disk if we chose to. I think that our preliminary task has worked really well.
Saturday 9 October 2010
opening five minutes of a teen horror!
In our previous lesson, we watched the first opening 5 minutes of the teen horror; Wrong turn. We focused on the visual and audio features and conventions of what makes the film fit into the genre of teen horror. The first thing that the audience notices is the way in which the titles arrive onto the screen. In 'Wrong turn' they use a distorted, white font which slowly turns to reveal the words, this gives a mysterious feel already. As well as this the music starts while titles are running and becomes louder as the film starts.
An establishing shot of the stretch of woods sets the scene as an isolated place with no sign of close habitation. From this we then see a young couple climbing up the side of a rock cliff. Already the couple being young is a signifier to the genre and allows the teen audience to relate. Also, the sport is known as being dangerous which could show the audience that the couple are in some sort of danger already and using the long angle shots gives impact to this. The language used between the couple is very easy for a teen audience to relate to as well as the idea of it being 'a race to the top'.
Once the 'boyfriend' reaches the top and undoes the equiptment from himself, the girl is alone. The idea of a girl alone and not near the top yet would add tension to the scene because the audience can see that something is going to happen. A false scare also takes place when the girl slips a little against the rock and it's only when the audience feels calm again, when she's ok, that the unknown crisis happens. She hears her 'boyfriend' fall and a zoom in of his blood dripping against her face takes her away from feeling safe. She starts to be pulled up by the 'unknown' only to set herself free with a knife (this shot is a zoom in). A young girl is now stuck on the side of a cliff with no harness and 'something' wanting her, this is a typical setting for a teen horror and gets the audience excited to see what will happen. She falls and see's her boyfriends blood covered face and at this point she tries to run. Chase sequences are very popular in teen horror films and using a juttering camera helps the audience to 'feel' the chase. The car is close by as the girl runs to her 'safety' yet it's too far away as she's fallen down due to a razor wire. This is predictable as we all know she won't make it to safety just yet (if ever).
The music throughout starts off slow yet the tempo soon picks up when danger is lurking. The high pitch of the stringed instruments creates a creepy setting and the regular beats of the drum the increase in volume add tension. Many sounds are enhanced at important points of shots. For example; the rope being cut, the blood drip and thud of her boyfriend falling to the ground.
The trees rustling is and enhanced noise as something is running behind them which is still unknown and being unknown adds more of a scare to the viewers.
An establishing shot of the stretch of woods sets the scene as an isolated place with no sign of close habitation. From this we then see a young couple climbing up the side of a rock cliff. Already the couple being young is a signifier to the genre and allows the teen audience to relate. Also, the sport is known as being dangerous which could show the audience that the couple are in some sort of danger already and using the long angle shots gives impact to this. The language used between the couple is very easy for a teen audience to relate to as well as the idea of it being 'a race to the top'.
Once the 'boyfriend' reaches the top and undoes the equiptment from himself, the girl is alone. The idea of a girl alone and not near the top yet would add tension to the scene because the audience can see that something is going to happen. A false scare also takes place when the girl slips a little against the rock and it's only when the audience feels calm again, when she's ok, that the unknown crisis happens. She hears her 'boyfriend' fall and a zoom in of his blood dripping against her face takes her away from feeling safe. She starts to be pulled up by the 'unknown' only to set herself free with a knife (this shot is a zoom in). A young girl is now stuck on the side of a cliff with no harness and 'something' wanting her, this is a typical setting for a teen horror and gets the audience excited to see what will happen. She falls and see's her boyfriends blood covered face and at this point she tries to run. Chase sequences are very popular in teen horror films and using a juttering camera helps the audience to 'feel' the chase. The car is close by as the girl runs to her 'safety' yet it's too far away as she's fallen down due to a razor wire. This is predictable as we all know she won't make it to safety just yet (if ever).
The music throughout starts off slow yet the tempo soon picks up when danger is lurking. The high pitch of the stringed instruments creates a creepy setting and the regular beats of the drum the increase in volume add tension. Many sounds are enhanced at important points of shots. For example; the rope being cut, the blood drip and thud of her boyfriend falling to the ground.
The trees rustling is and enhanced noise as something is running behind them which is still unknown and being unknown adds more of a scare to the viewers.
preliminary task preparation
My group and i have sorted through our footage and chosen the shots that we will be using. We've already spent an hour putting together the main filming of all the angles we want. However, we will be working into this more later on but so far everything is going well.
Horror presentation
a powerpoint of horror
Horror presentation
View more presentations from roxannebrightkba1.
Monday 4 October 2010
horror film openings
we've now studied the opening few minutes of a few horror films including; deadwood, jeepers creepers and jeepers creepers 2. We looked at the conventions used and this. As well as this my group and i (the hitchcock group) watched a teen horror called 'Solstice' and noted the conventions.
Thursday 30 September 2010
preliminary task preparation
Today, my group and i took around 45 minutes to get lots of differnt footage and angles for our preliminary task. We then managed to upload it all onto the Mac computers and it's now ready for editing.
Wednesday 29 September 2010
genres and horror
today we learnt the definition of a genre and a hybrid. We mainly focused on Horror as this is what our course final will be based on (a two minute opening of a horror film). We learnt what kind of things are associated with horror films such as darkness, voices and vistims as well as looking at some famous iconic horror characters.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Filming
For around 5Ominutes, my group and i (the Hitchcock group made up of Hannah George, Matthew Tyler & myself) spent some time practice filming for our preliminary task. We took lots of footage from lots of angles and using lots of camera movement and we are all happy that we got sufficiant footage that could be edited to make a good video.
Downloading footage from camera to mac
We've now been taught how to get footage from the camera to a mac computor using a camera legira, a USB lead and a mac. It's quite a complicated process but after lots of practice i think it becomes easier.
transitions and effects
During the lesson today, we were shown a variety of transitions and effects that can be used while video editing on final cut express. Wed did this an edited a pre recorded video for around 40minutes along with being shown tutorials on the programme which i have used since.
Saturday 25 September 2010
Final Cut Express
I've now learnt the basics of Final cut exppress (a video editing programme) we spent some time on the Mac computers editing some pre-recorded footage. This will help with my preliminary task and later on; the foundation portfolio.
I've also looked further at tutorials on how to use and navigate around Final cut express (the link given to me on the teachers blog.)
I've also looked further at tutorials on how to use and navigate around Final cut express (the link given to me on the teachers blog.)
Tuesday 21 September 2010
Camera&tripod
Last lesson, my group and i finished our storyboard (it's 11 shots long) we got th group name of 'Hitchcock'.
As well as this; i learnt how to use the camera which is a Canon Legira, how to use the tripod and how to use them together to create differnt camera angles.
I learnt about setting up the equiptment and when i am able to us it.
As well as this; i learnt how to use the camera which is a Canon Legira, how to use the tripod and how to use them together to create differnt camera angles.
I learnt about setting up the equiptment and when i am able to us it.
Wednesday 15 September 2010
storyboarding
Today, in lesson, we recapped over camera angles and camera movements in order to annotate our storyboards. Hannah George, Matthew Tyler and myself are currently drawing what we want to happen in each shot and we have come in with ideas for our preliminary task.
what i've done so far...
So far in media studies i've learnt how to and created this blog and how to navigate my way around the webpage and opened myself a slideshare account which will allow me to add slideshows to my blog.
I then learnt how to use my school email account and how to recive and send emails needed.
Also; i learnt key words and phrases for the language needed (after watching two videos about camera angles and camera movement). As well as being informed about and understanding the preliminary task!
My group: Hannah George, Matthew Tyler and myself.
I then learnt how to use my school email account and how to recive and send emails needed.
Also; i learnt key words and phrases for the language needed (after watching two videos about camera angles and camera movement). As well as being informed about and understanding the preliminary task!
My group: Hannah George, Matthew Tyler and myself.
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