Coursework: Final Opening

Final Opening:

Coursework: Evaluation Question 7

Coursework: Evaluation Question 6

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Coursework: Evaluation Question 5

Coursework: Evaluation Question 4

Coursework: Evaluation Question 3

Coursework: Evaluation Question 2

Coursework: Evaluation Question 1

Coursework: Casting

(this was all done by me, I've let my group use it as reference)

Coursework: Health and Saftey

(this was all done by me, I've let my group use it as reference)

Coursework: Costume and Props

WARNING- the presentation may move too quickly for the writing so pause the auto play and manually click through the slides

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Here is a shot of Adam in his final costume for our opening:

The outfit from the initial idea was a hoodie and jeans because he was just going to be a normal civilian but then when it came to the development of our storyline, the protagonist was of a high class and so we had to dress him accordingly.

Coursework: Brainstorming

 Brainstorming after some discussion:

As a group we went away and did some research on different aspects that will concern our project.

Naomi looked into different make-up kits that we could use, to make the blood look realistic, and Adam looked at music and went over our plot again to check it over.

Adam raised some concerns such as casting, he pointed out that some of the people we were looking at casting (if they agreed) may not be reliable due to their studies and as they're not directly involved in a way that will affect their grades, they might not take our project as seriously as we would like them to. As a result of this, we have changed the story a bit so that there are less people involved to avoid as many issues regarding convening as a group. Maddie suggested that we use her little brother as he doesn't have as much pressure work wise due to him being in year 9 and it will be easy to liaise with him. The other character that we are casting is the supernatural creature herself, who, at the moment, we are considering Ella Venermo, a friend of Maddie's, but that may change. It could potentially be Maddie, for practical reasons.

One aspect of our storyline that we have altered is the bounty hunter. Instead of the bounty hunter being revealed at the end, to make it more mysterious, we are changing it so that it is a serious of P.O.V shots as the bounty hunter so that the audience get the feeling that the other characters are being followed. This has made it so that we don't have to worry about casting the hunter and adds a thriller effect to the story, as it has turned out to be more of a horror.

Maddie said that it turned out to be more of a horror because in thrillers blood is not a key feature as it is more of a genre that is  more psychologically based, whereas horror is the blood and gore of the film industry. Maddie felt like that as a group that we would be able to have a better quality output if we are able to use a genre that has a wider range of codes and conventions available to use.

Coursework: Further Brainstorming

Coursework: Test footage

Lighting continuity has been a huge problem for our group. Our first two attempts at shooting were around 6 O'clock in the morning in late winter/early spring. Due to this, the sun rose quickly, and as you can see, the lighting changed dramatically over the course of our shooting. 

This is a still from one of the first clips

This is a still from a slightly later shot that we took

We tried editing the footage to a similar colouring on the video editor but the product was a grainy image that we felt didn't professional enough for what we would like.

As a result we filmed again, in a different location at a slightly later time, but still in the morning. This time we had continuity issues with the frost that covered the grass in the earlier shots, and not in the later ones. We also had an issue with the fact the second location was not typical for a horror, and so the supernatural girl just looked like a weird stalker, and not a poisoned ethereal creature. 

A still from one of the earlier shots, the ground has a slight grey coloration due to the frost

Here you can identify that this is a later shot due to the frost having melted

This is also one of the long shots that we took, it is evident that the location is not 'horror-like' enough

The make up of the ethereal girl is going to be developed because, as a group, we decided that the black veins were not realistic enough and looked almost comical. 

I also asked some friends what they thought of the make up and what the first thing was that sprang to mind when they looked at it. They said she looked too humane to be supernatural, and that the 'veins' didn't actually look like veins at all, they reminded one person of a tree without all it's leaves, which is definitely not what we were aiming for.

Taking this feedback into account, we are going to use white powder on all my showing skin, to give me a more sickly/dead look, and darken the eyes so that the white stands out. I am considering putting coconut oil in my hair as well to make it slightly darker and make it look less 'clean', for want of a better word.


As preciously mentioned, the location also needed improvement because Adam looked like he was being stalked, rather than a supernatural girl. As a result, we have changed location again to a grand house that a friend of Adam's family own, and we are going to attempt a haunted house style film opening. We are going to use similar concepts, in the sense that there is still a girl, except now the person acting her is me rather than Maya, as I have slightly longer hair. 

Inspired by The Grudge, the girl will have her hair messier and slightly over her face, and, hopefully, white-out eyes. She will be in a white dress and at the moment we are undecided as to her footwear/if she will be wearing footwear.

The lighting in the second location was much too warm for the atmosphere that we were trying to capture. The first location had cooler colours, which was almost perfect for what we wanted, but the lighting continuity has prevented us from using this footage. Consequently, instead of filming in the morning, we are going to film later, around dusk, as this time carries many connotations associated with horror.

Written by Maddie Davies

Coursework: Mood

The main way that we wanted to create mood within our piece was by the use of lighting coupled with sound. On my own I did research into lighting that is usually used in horror films. I found that most horror films use lighting from underneath the character, this is done to highlight certain aspects of their bodies, or to show them as important. In shots which involve a set they frequently use lighting that appears quite natural but slightly distorted. Also known as Noir Lighting, it is known for its harsh that light that scams across the face, this helps imply mystery as it creates a lot of distinct shadows. This also implies a two faced nature as half of the character is covered.

An example of this type of underneath lighting was in The Blair Witch Project, in which teenagers were chased through a forest in one of the first, majorly successful, found footage films. The low key lighting creates an extremely dark and realistic look to the film.

 

A classic horror film, The Exorcist, uses a different type of lighting, the almost spotlight-like lighting used is linked into the films theme of religion, and how it plays a major factor in the films plot.

We attempted to recreate the lighting that is common in most horror films, the blue tinge to the shots creates a depressive and dark atomsphere, often used in horror films to enhance the scenes and generate a larger response from the audience.

Another way that horror films create mood is through the use of music, both diegetic and non-diegetic. In films such as 'Psycho', directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the music that has been used has become iconic, instantly attributed to the horror genre. The high strings, fast paced music creates a sense of unease, increasing the audiences response to the film.

Many horror posters follow a similar set of motifs, with there often being a central image, or figure to instantly attract the focus of the audience. This is the coupled with the title of them film, against done in a typical horror manner to emphasise the type offilm it is going to be. The final signifier that is commonly used in horror posters is the use of red in the poster. The colour red itself is an extremely vibrant and attention grabbing colour, this alongside the connotations of violence or blood lets anyone that is viewing the poster know what type of film it is. Although these examples are posters, some signifies of genre used in them will be adopted into our own opening.  

(this was all done by me and I've other members of my group use it as reference.)

Coursework: Iconic horror directors

Horror is a special type of genre as the director needs to be able to lead the audience into a false sense of security, then destroy their equilibrium in such a way that it gives the audience a physical and an emotional reaction.

James Wan

• Director of Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious
• James Wan has three 'trade marks', according to IMDb, those being: Ventriloquist dolls, backwards tracking shots and for frequently working with Leigh Whannel
• His inspiration: David Lynch, Dario Argento

Quote from Wan: "We think craft is important, and the irony has always been that horror may be disregarded by critics, but often they are the best-made movies you're going to find in terms of craft. You can't scare people if they see the seams."

Wes Craven

• Director of Scream, A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Last House On The Left
• Craven was known for his deformed and disfigured villains and his sadistically brutal killers
• Often used strong female characters, and his protagonists were usually normal people caught in the wrong place in the wrong time

Quote from Craven: "Horror films don't create fear. They release it."

• Director of the first ever zombie films, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, The Crazies, Creepshow 
• Most known for introducing the genre of zombies into the mainstream, starting a sub-genre within horror that would influence culture for decades, and continues to do so 
• Like, Craven, Romero's protagonists were usually normal people caught in the situation that they found themselves in.

 Quote from Romero: "Reality is much worse than any stories about ghosts, zombies or aliens."

http://www.popmatters.com/post/176112-the-13-greatest-horror-directors-of-all-time/

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls051539272/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1490123/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Research done by Adam Cutler and Maddie Davies 

Coursework: Equipment

(this was all done by me, I've let my group use it as reference)

Coursework: Age Rating

We decided that our film would be most likely e classed as a 15. This is because we felt the full feature would contain to much content to be rated as a 12 or 12a, and there was not enough explicit material to be considered an 18.  As well as this, the rating bracket that we decided on would still generate a large amount of profit at the box office, as it would not cut off the majority of cinema viewers.

Reasons why films are give the rating of 15

Any of the following:

•   strong violence
•  frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
•   portrayals of sexual activity
•   strong verbal references to sex
•   sexual nudity
•   brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
•   discriminatory language or behaviour
•   drug taking

The majority of horror movies have an age rating of 15 or over, this is due to the sustained, but mild, sexualised or sadistic content. This is exemplified by the gruesome special effects used to shock audiences, or the sustained themes that shock the average person. A film will become a higher rating once this threat of horror, sex or sadism becomes apparent and to an extreme degree.  

The section about the reasoning for a film being a 15 was researched and done by Naomi Lee, the rest was completed on my own 

Coursework: Editing Problems

Coursework: Storyboard

Coursework: Title Credit Fonts

Coursework: First and Second Draft of our Opening

Above is the first draft of our film opening, and below is our second. Our final piece can be found on the blog post titled, 'Final Opening'.

Coursework: Shooting Script

Coursework: The Characters