(19) Evaluation and My Progress

Conventions- 

TITLES -


I spoke to my media teacher and i shown him my titles with the cinematic, he said they look great however the word 'starring' is usually associated with trailers. And ensuring my film opening doesn't look like a trailer is a huge part of my criteria. As its not, its a film opening and both are completely different. Changing the words from "starring" to "written by" is a great example of me taking the criticism and advice, and putting it into my production to increase marks and the overall standard of my film. White and red colouring of text in particular are popular conventions of horror as they represent clinical vibes (white) and red representing blood, danger and fear. The smoke over the top of the titles shows how the setting/environment is secluded. The Polaroid in the corner represents the house has history of something as there is an "old fashioned" image on the Polaroid. I edited this to make it look old and suggest that the picture has been taken for a reason, i think it looks great. I was inspired by the titles from true detective and how it will have a shot of a setting and some motion track shots going through the setting, i didn't see any point in having motion tracked shots because its over complicated than what it needs to be in my opening sequence.



LIGHTING - 


The majority of
filming went well. I was fortunate to choose a good day when the sun was bright so i could really take advantage of the lighting techniques to increase the quality of my film. I filmed the scenes inside, and lighting was key. A nice example of the lighting in one of the scenes is the reflections off the walls as i positioned the blind on my landing half way up the window with the blinds half open to reflect the sunlight off the walls to enhance the colour correction and overall mood. It just looks better overall. As you can see it looks great. The picture of the blinds is how it was positioned when filming, and the panoramic picture (top left) is the lighting and reflection example. Once the colour corrections are placed in the composition it looks amazing and the lighting and CC (colour correction) work hand in hand together. The faded light blue is a great convention of horror because its very clinical and takes away some o the gain and lighting which can suggest danger.

(18) Implementation and Screenshots

 In this blog post I will demonstrate how i created certain parts of my film opening by using screenshots and then explaining how I did it.

(17) First Cut without improvements

This is a scene out of my film opening, finished without improvements.

I am happy with it. I like how it turned out. The effects, the green screens, the colour corrections, the sound and the camera shots/lighting. I had to film and act this on my own, which made it difficult to explore different camera shots, however, it still turned out fairly nice. This scene shows how the character hears voices and how it will occur at the most random of moments. 

(16) Recce

The image above is where I filmed the video diary scene. I like this scene because the lack of objects, the aged bricks and the cold air in the early mornings all look very good on camera, and once imported, looks amazing once I have thrown several layers of colour corrections, fog overlays and exposure. Because adding horror conventions to my film opening is essential, i couldn't think of a better place than an abandoned room, with brick walls that are aged and empty surroundings.

The image above is the bathroom in the landing and bathroom scene. I have a tripod outside the room where it can capture all the movements. However it does not capture the characters emotions.
The bathroom has tiled walls mostly, which reflect light around the room. this looks great on camera and as you will see on the film opening. Also, as it is all white it looks very clinical, which is great and suits my theme of the film of a mental harassment and metal illness within the character. The conventions, themes and scenes all work well together.

Because the tripod cannot capture the  characters expressions or emotions, i had a wall mounted tripod attached to the window so it can switch between angles, so the different angles can represent the body language and the facial expressions.

(15) Filming schedule

Film Schedule – Company  

Date	Task	Complete Y/N
W/C: 25/10/14	Film the opening scene which is a few cinematics and the self-recording video message.	Y
W/C: 26/10/14	Film the landing scene. Arrange the cameras into appropriate places ready to film.	Y
W/C: 27/10/14	Film the parent interview scene and the second self-recording scene.	Y
W/C: 27/10/14	Film the evil teddy candle scene where I get pulled back by a unknown force	Y

(14) Risk Assessment

Organisation name: RedFish

What are the hazards?	Who might be harmed and how?	What are you already doing?	Do you need to do anything else to manage this risk?	Action by whom?	Action by when?	Done
Electrocution	I may be harmed because if water comes into to contact with any equipment or my computer when editing then I’m at great risk.	I am ensuring no water is within a 2 meter radius of me or my equipment, even if it’s contained or in a bag.	Check surrounding for any other sources of liquid.	Myself	Always	X
No loose wires or objects.	I may be harmed when filming and acting as i may trip on wires or objects may fall from above.	I am ensuring all wires are taped to the floor when acting/filming so it reduces risk of tripping.	Removing and/or securing all loose items that are eye level or above.	Myself	When filming	X
Being ran over	I may be harmed when filming on a driveway as an incoming car that wants to park on drive may not see me when filming shots from a low angle.	I am ensuring that someone is standing at the end of the drive checking that no cars pull up on the drive without being fully aware of my presence.	No	Myself and a friend or family member.	When filming	X
Fire	In a particular scene i am featuring candles next to a fury toy. This could easily set on fire.	I have my dad’s fire extinguisher ready in case of fire.	i am also ensuring the flame on the candles is no higher than 3cm to prevent this risk further.	Myself and dad	When filming	X

(13) Scripting for film

Kieran –

“Hello, my name is Alexandra Price and I have just turned 16. I moved to this town, this house, four and a half months ago. For the last four months I have been experiencing paranormal events. It started off slowly. Small things. Well, in comparison. The first week of this nightmare I felt followed, but only when I was alone. I went to the toilet, felt a shadow slide past me, voices whispering. I always hear the voices whispering.

·       Show the bathroom scene of Kieran being followed.

Kieran- The whispering will happen at the most normal moments, when everything is good. 12^th of October the whispering was strong. Loud. Too loud. I asked my dog, Clara, if it was her. I got angry, i couldn’t take it. I was shaking her, when i got dragged back. No one was there. Dragged by the legs.

·       Show the scene of getting dragged back.

Parents –

Me- and so you’re the father

Dad – “I am, He’s not been right for some time now, we first discovered when we were all watching TV and he just flips. Psycho. Shouting “quiet”. Screaming.

 “ I think it might be the * looks up and screams, camera shuts off”

Title of the film come ups with animation. 

(11) Film details

Mind map ideas

(12) Target audience & Demographics

Herbert Blumer's theory consisted of 6 factors. These factors were:


- Age
- Gender
- Culture
- Education
- Class
- Region

He believed in simple terms that 'mass audience' were individuals who all wanted/believed or shared the same thing in common. He believed that these mass audiences were not able to act within a huge crowd and were a "loose organisation". This theory was believed in the 1950's and since then, everything has changed and to believe this theory still would be inaccurate. Why? Because if a mass of people went to see a new movie in cinemas, and they wanted to share their opinions on it? Blogs, reviews and social media sites. In the 1950's nobody could do this but in the 21st century anyone can share their opinion on social media or any form of the web. Therefore to say 'mass audiences are unable to act within a crowd' would be wrong. When choosing my audience for my film at the end of this blog I will not take into consideration barely any ideas from this theory as it is sixty years old and a lot has changed.




Another inaccurate theory is the audience segmentation theory. This is because, again, times have changed and it reflects upon job roles and job roles only. No factors nor beliefs, ethnicity, age or gender are considered and not even class. Class is not defined by your job role, especially when put into a category. In fact, the jobs and their place in this theory are categorised by what type of job they are. E.G. Secretary and solicitor, both different paid jobs but similar in terms of telephone use, writing, emails and smartly dressed.

                                                               

An example of a teenage audience and how they are targeted is a film called 'ZombieLand'. This is because zombies are often conventional of teenage horrors, it usually involves group of teenagers surviving an 'apocalypse' and coming together to defeat these 'zombies'. The main characters are mainly teenagers and this is also relatable to the teenage target market. The print on the front of the DVD is showing teenagers with an adult holding guns, and a setting of a theme park, which is where the film is set, again the location is relatable to teenagers as teenagers are stereotypically seen as to enjoy theme parks.

So the setting, the name, the print, the characters and other conventions all come together to target teenagers in this horror movie.                                            

                                                                         
                                                           Another example is a film called 'Cabin In The Woods.
                                                           This film reaches its teenage target audience by using the                                                                    characters as a way to connect. All the five main characters                                                                are teenagers and this means the teenage target market can
                                                           automatically relate to these characters in their moods,
                                                           choices they make throughout the film,
                                                           feelings and the characters fashion and interests.
This works because if a 45 year old man decided to watch this film,
he could not relate to the modern day teenagers and their dress sense,
their language, for example; Slang and texting speech.
The characters use of drugs and alcohol and sex,
 these are all very stereotypical.

(10) Production Schedule

Production Schedule – (Film Title)

Date	Task	Complete Y/N
W/C: 3/11/14	Finish plan, plot, script and recce.	YES
W/C: 10/11/14	Have everything filmed and ready to be imported, import everything to timeline.	YES
W/C: 17/11/14	Edited the first two scenes	YES
W/C: 24/11/14	Filmed all but last scene  Complete graphics and animated logo.	YES
/C: 01/12/14	Have completed all editing and render the film out	YES

(9) Film Plot, Role allocation & Casting

Film Plot

Opening scene is a variation of cuts from two scenes.

Scene 1.     Kieran (me) creating a video diary explaining his experience with the activity happening. The explanation will begin vividly, and will be partially related to the other scene. Each scene will be cut every 10 seconds (approx) and the other scene will be of Sophie acting as the sister. She will be discussing how Kieran (me) has been acting at home. I will have two cameras in the two rooms I am being filmed. One camera on a tripod center on to the person speaking, and the other filming the tripod camera. The room I am speaking in is outside and surrounded by a wall of aged bricks, cobwebs and cold air. This is to emphasise to the audience that I am the victim of the film. It is also a good convention of horror. Empty room with old brick walls.  The scene of Sophie will be in a warm, well lighted living room, on a nice sofa, with the exact same camera angles as my scene. She will be saying thing such as, “I don’t know, he will be sitting there watching TV with us the one minute, the next, he flips, goes psycho, has some kind of seizure”

At each point either Sophie or I mention an event that happens, the screen transitions to a flashback of it happening. For example; When Sophie says “I don’t know he will be sitting there watching TV with us the one minute, the next, he flips, goes psycho, has some kind of seizure” the screen will then flash back to the event. However, when it flashes back, it will start from the end of the event and rewind rapidly and then play it.

The same will happen with the statements from me when talking about my experiences. I will add VFX of ghosts, blurs, screen shakes, bloody characters and SFX. This will include loud screams, wind, rewinding sound effects and more.

As the small cuts of the interview are showing, a credit will appear on the screen. How, I am not quite sure of yet. The cuts of the interview and the flash backs will happen for 2:30 minutes, and when it goes back to my scene. I fade away. A connection interrupted effect. 

Role allocation - 

I am filming everything, editing everything and acting nearly everything. There is a scene in the film opening where my dad is interviewed by the camera man. This last approximately 30 seconds.  

I was in a group of three but changes were made and i decided to complete this film opening on my own. 

(8) Genre Research

Genre Research - Horror 

Horror is designed to bring out fear, emotions and disgust in the audience. 
The genre also overlaps with many other genre’s such as fantasy, science fiction and thriller.

• Gothic

• Psychological

• Supernatural

• Slasher

• Suspense

• Thriller

• Teen terror

• Satanic

 There are many themes in horror such as; Revenge, haunting, serial killers, religion and ghosts. 

Typical conventions of horror are; white, red, black colours, isolated or abandoned locations such as a church, farm or abandoned house. These conventions gets the genres mood across to the audience because it shows them the possibilities that can happen within this scene. For example; The abandoned house shows that anyone could be there, and anything could happen. This is horror as it is bring out the fear in the audiences minds. Why do people watch horror? I think people watch horror because it withdraws fear, suspense and imagination to the the viewers minds. Horror has the potential to create a vast variety of reactions. 

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Representation feedback -
you have made a good start with this blog post Kieran. There is some interesting detail thinking not just about representation, but also moving into semiotics and audience reception.
However I think some of your text is taken from a web site, can you ensure that you credit where this is from in order to avoid any confusion and make it clear that you are doing this. You should then discuss the text that you have copied and pasted in relation to your own film.
The comment on the representation in your own film is much too short, this needs to be detailed and considered about all of the characters in your film.
At the moment this work is at a level2/3 border.


Titles and Logo's feedback -
Again a good start - I would just like to know if you are going to use any of these as influences in your own work and why? Are they typical for your genre etc.

(7) Opening titles and logo's

Opening title sequences & logos

- True Detective (2014)
   
This is the opening title scene from 'True detective" it has the credits of the characters motion tracked into a zoom out establishing shot of the opening. The colour correction n is fairly dark representing the mood and giving an idea to the audience within the first few seconds of the film. Black, white and red are conventions of horror and partially thriller, therefore giving an idea of the genre. There is a screened overlay that has a low opacity of approximately 20% of a mans head. 

   -       http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/true-detective/

- Semi Permanent Sydney (2014)

I love this title sequence because it is purely 100% GFX and VFX. I love the technical look of the grid in the background, with the slow paint explosion coming from within the text. The colours contrast well with the dark grey to the cyan paint and large lettering. The colours all work really well and i like how the birds eye view looks down on the credits. I also noticed the dark shadows on the horizontal end of each end of the rectangular grid, it makes the text stand out more. 

  -  http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/semi-permanent-sydney-2014/

- The conjuring (2013) 

I like this title opening as it displays the credits in a number of ways to give an idea of the film to the audience, aswell as showing small hints of what the may be about. They take real life objects such as newspapers and photographs etc, and they relate to the film in some way. They are all in black and white to represent the old fashioned theme of the film and has a mask to represents that it is under a film, or some form of tool from older times to view small print. The credits are naturally added in too to keep the title scene relative. 

     - http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-conjuring/

- Ping Pong Summer (2014) 

I do like the cartoon effect of this title sequence, however, it is stop motion, and i don't like it. It is very uneasy to watch and uncomfortable to the eye. I also do not like the colour contrast and think a different colour other than purple would work in this particular scene. Perhaps this is just describing the film to the audience and letting them not it is a bit quirky and different, however, i believe the title does that alone. Something that stood out to me is the crack, which look nice as they have a cracking animation as it comes from the top and cracks down. 

  -     http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/ping-pong-summer/


True detectives (2014) title sequence is the style i would most likely enjoy using, it is simple as it is a basic motion track with basic 2d text against a shot showing a setting in the film. This is good and i want to do this as it gives the setting/mood of the film with the credits. They contrast nicely together. It also makes it very easy to add a convention as i can add a green screen of blood sliding down the screen or something that relates to my film. 

(6) Representation Study

Representation

Definition: representation is the way in which meaning is given to the things which are depicted that stand in for something. The word suggests something was there already and has been represented by the media.

Representation can change overtime as many people believe that media is powerful, so it changes people’s attitudes and beliefs.

The seven areas of representation are;

-          Regional identify

-          Age (a separation of people by which generation they come from)

-          Sexuality

-          Gender

-          Physical ability/ disability

-          Ethnicity

-          Class and status

Semiotics and content analysis are the main types of analysis for representation in films. (quoted from the web)  A common and unfair representation in films and film openings is the way women are portrayed. Most females in films have been objectified or been portrayed as inferior to men. I think this is because of patriarchy it’s harder for women to obtain more independent roles and therefore used in roles to how society sees them at the same time.

-          “Patriarchy is a social system in which: males hold primary power; males predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property; and, in the domain of the family, fathers or father-figures hold authority over women and children.”     (quoted off the internet)

Disney has a very stereotypical view of genders and relationships which is inaccurate and portrays a bad message. The common theme for men attracting women is to be rich, charming, good looking and have a form of promise to make towards them. This leads to the impression that all girls need to be good looking to get out of bad living conditions and find a wealthy man, which then reduces their political status to being married and not work. Usually in Disney cartoons the man will rescue the women, however this is usually portrayed in the way that not because she is hard working, but because of her looks. I believe that children films usually portray messages to older life which are unrealistic. This is because it attracts their views and keeps them watching as they are drawn into the fantasy world of wealth, royalty and good looks, however, this is reality for very very little.

The character in my film is portrayed as a very normal character that has a normal family, life and world. This is because my opening and overall film is the contrast between a normal life with abnormal paranormal events/activity.

I display the normality by introducing parents, a steady family and the way my character dresses. My character wears jeans, a t shirt and some trainers, very average normal clothes. 
Representation of horror is important in my film opening and therefore I need to consider these factors. I need to consider the representation of lighting and what the lighting shows. I will use a slightly blue CC (colour correction) as this will show the dark side of my scenes and represents the genre. I will of course film in bright lighting as this wont effect the outcome when I change the grin, offset and gamma of the film scenes.