EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

We have come a long way now from when we filmed and edited our preliminary task. Haven used similar camera angles and shots in both, we have used them in different and more complex ways in our film opening. For example, the shot reverse shot in our preliminary task was used when exchanging dialogue between the two characters. Our film opening used shot reverse shot when Kaitlyn was walking towards an alley with her back to the camera which then cut to a shot of her walking forward as if into the camera. Both sequences kept to the 180 degree rule which was useful as it did not confuse the audience. 

Our film opening used shot angles such as medium and long shots, they were used during the quick jump cut frames of Kaitlyn and the Devil. The shots proceeded with extreme long shots, to long, to medium and so on. This created a sense of claustrophobia and scared the audience into thinking they were getting closer and closer to you. Our preliminary also used medium and long shots when character 1 was walking up stairs or sitting down on a chair. The editing here wasn't as experimental and creative as our film opening in which we used for special effects such as bloom and darker contrast. 

During both tasks, our location has been limited and tight. When filming our preliminary on the balcony our chance to elongate shots was impossible because of space. When filming the interior shots in the bathroom for our film opening, because of the reflection from the mirror, the camera and tripod had to be placed in a certain place of the room.

Editing for our film opening was much simpler than when we edited our preliminary. This was mainly because we, as a group, were more experienced with the Mac and the technology. 

When it comes to camerawork, all members of the group have had their chance to experiment with the camera and shots like straight high angle and extreme close up have been used. For our film opening, during the interior shots in the bedroom, we used lighting to create shadows - a horror film convetion which creates fright!

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

1. The MAC - Used used during editing and research on the web.

2. The Tripod - Used during filming. Was useful when steady high shots were needed. Its high could be of great advantage, creating high angled shots.

3. The Mic - Used when recording sounds (whispers and screams). This was easy to handle but we were unable to record during lesson as it picked up on sounds people in the room made.

4. The Camera - Used during filming. It was then plugged into computer to import our recordings. The camera after much practice became easier to use and from this we tried out different angles and shots with it.

1. Blogger - Website frequently used to update our blogs with research, photographs and evaluations. Blogegr.com was very easy to use but I would ave liked to add some privacy to it until the final publishing.

2. Youtube - Used during research of film openings to help us with our common genre conventions. Youtube was very useful and videos could be embedded to them add to my blog.

3. Google -Used during research into character names and background information about the devil.

4. IMDb - Used when writing about actors, directors and films.

5. ImoviesHD - Used when editing our film opening. I got very confident when editing on ImoviesHD, special effects, adding sound and credits was simple! 

6. Garage Band - Used when creating music for our film sequence. At first, Jo and I couldn't get the hand of this program. We did some research and later found out how to use it, we were then able to pick many instruments, change the tempo and change the key

7. Itunes -Used to import our song from Garage Band to Imovies. This program was simple to use but I later found difficulties when trying to upload the song we created onto our blog.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

The setting of this shot is teenage girls room. This links well with our target audience as they can themselves relate to it. Our questionnaires resulted as the age group of 16 to 25 was the most popular when it came to attracting people towards horror and thriller movies. The main character of our film is Kaitlyn, aged 16, this youth, again, relates to our targeted audience and adds a sense of reality. Our research brought back that many horror films have a convention of 'creepy little children'. Examples of movies are 'The Omen', 'Children of the Corn' and 'Orphan'. Children are related to innocence and so it comes as a bigger shock and scare to the audience when it is a child who commits horrific actions.

In the last half of our sequence, Kaitlyn's life is back to normal, she is seen walking to an unknown location. The fact that it is light and open completely contrasts with horror films conventions but it is the image of reality that scares the audience the most.

file:///C:/Users/Toshiba%20L300-29W/Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Media/Music/Agnes%20Rivet/Agnes%20Rivet%27s%20Album/soundtrack%20to%20666.aif

As she is walking, non-diegetic sound (song) is heard. The song was created by us on Garageband. It has an upbeat rhythm and catchy melodic line, the goal we wanted to achieve here was to attract the audience into relaxing and even liking the song. The mood created by the song could then shapely pivot them into a scare!

The feedback we received from some viewers was that our sequence was a little confusing and hard to follow. This was intended. Many movies like 'The Matrix', 'The Shinning' and 'Memento' have been described as some of the most confusing movies...But it is they mind boggling story lines which attract the audience and invites their imaginative creativity.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

This is Lucy.
Lucy is our target audience.
Lucy likes having her friends round on a saturday night and watch films. Her favourites TV shows are Misfits and The Mentalist. She finds Misfits really funny but she also likes the science fiction super powers side of it. Lucy loves The Mentalist because its so smartly put together and she likes guessing who has done the murders and who's behind the homicides. Lucy shops at HMV because she loves music, especially pop rock bands like Queen and The Killers.

Lucy would watch '666' because its heart pumping, adventurous and truly scary. She would watch it on a saturday night alone, then have all her friends round to watch it together the next saturday to see what they all think of it.

In the opening 2 minutes of the film, there are references to murder because of the blood shown. As the movie would go on, more violence and horror would occur and so would be classified as Certificate 15.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Recently at the ODEON, films like Saw 3D and Let Me In have been the best received horror movies, both rated 4 stars.
'The Halloween Monster Movie Challenge', 'Dead By Dawn' and Fiml4's 'Frightfest' are the UK's biggest Horror Film Festivals. These events are open to any submissions and allow us, the public, to submit our own movies which could then end up premiering during one of their festivals!

For a movie of such low budget and the limitations of special effects, makeup and technology, I don't beleive '666' would be welcomed by big mainstream cinemas like 'Vue' or 'ODEON'.
Instead, I believe our movie could be received by a film festival, haven been classed as a low budget independent film. If good feedback from the public, our movie could then be sent to higher media instutions like independent cinemas who are spotted all around the country.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The character of Kaitlyn from our opening film can be related to the character of Regan from 'The Exorcist'.
Regan, a twelve year old girl (so slightly younger than 16 year old Kaitlyn) shares similar qualities with our lead character. They both are possessed by an evil and develop changes in behaviour and physicality.
The pictures above show the two female characters in normality and then when possessed. Kaitlyn's makeup isnt as dramatic as Regan's, but we must note that our movie's ending is unknown and so Kaitlyn's appearance at the end of the story could have been as horrying as The Exorcist's Regan.

Paranormal Activity also shares the theme of 'possession' and 'demonic presence'. The character of Katie in this movie gets followed and possessed by the devil as well Kaitlyn in '666'. Disturbed and scared by the presence, she too tries to find a way out.

Filming of Interior Shots

On the 3rd November, my team and I filmed the interior shots of our opening sequence.

Here are a few pictures of us working during the process:

We all took turns at filming, acting, lighting and directing.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products - (film openings) ?

FRAME 1 - The Title of the film

6 is the number of the devil, a theme that is often used and referred to in our movie. The numbers were emphasised by highlighting them in red, the colour of blood and on a black background symbolising fear, darkness and tragedy.

We would have preferred the font of the title to have been bigger to have a grander effect but unfortunately because of the limited technology this was not possible.

As the title was shown, a diegetic sound - girls scream was heard to shock the audience and scare them!

Our title can relate to another horror movie, 'The Omen'. Short and snappy, both have links to the devil. 'The Omen''s title poster also uses the colours of black and red. Our title is very forward and obliviously is a horror film. 'Saw', 'Scream', ' Freaks' are examples of movies that also have titles that portray the convention immediately.

FRAME 2 - Setting/Location

In our film opening we used both interior and exterior settings. In Frame 2, the location is of the girls bedroom, an angle and shot that shows the bedside table and part of the bed. The lighting is dark to imply that it is night and the girl is sleeping. We then see her in the bathroom, the reflection of her rubbing her bloody hands together and then washing them. A common horror film convention is the woods, we briefly feature the girl and the devil in the trees, they also appear in quiet long hallway and on a deserted field.

FRAME 3 - Costumes and Props

In our film opening, we meet two characters. The girl (Kaitlyn) who wears a long white robe and the Devil who wears all black with a hood. The binary Opposition technique here implies white is good and innocent and black is bad and evil.

 The white robe is commonly used in horror films and has been used in 'The exorcist' and 'The Ring'. Long dark hair covering the eyes is also a horror convention.

FRAME 4 - Camerawork and Editing

In the 2 minutes of our film opening, we managed to fit in long shots, over the shoulder shots, high angle shots and many more. As well as shot reverse shot and sticking to the 180 Degree Rule. Towards the ending of our sequence, we hand held the camera to give a different insight and imply it was the 'devil' following the girl. Editing was successful but took many hours to process!!

FRAME 5 - Title font and Style

Our credits were inspired by the opening sequence of the movie 'The House Of The Devil'. A rocky song starts and the principal character is seen walking in the streets. The frame stops and a credit (name) comes up. This was effective because it emphasised on the names, as they have an importance. The names were of the colour white, to signify life is back to normal and so far, there is no danger. 

FRAME 6 - Story and how the opening sets it up

'666' is the story of a young girl, Kaitlyn (Agnes Rivet)  who begins to suffer from horrific dreams. Dreams that include herself committing murders. She then discovers these 'dreams' actually come true, and she does commit the murders subconsciously. Possessed by the devil (Moe Chipofya) at night, Kaitlyn has to combat the evil before she commits any more killings...

Our movie opens with the girl lying in bed, disturbed by her dreams. It jump cuts back and forth from her dreaming to her possessed self in a bathroom writing the numbers '666' in blood on the mirrors. The girl then wakes up, still in shock from her nightmare. There's a blackout and a girls scream is heard. This creates tension in the audience, leaving them to wonder what has happened to the girl and what made her scream. An up tempo song starts, its a new day, the same girl is walking the streets calmly and safely. Until a hand reaches for her shoulder, she turns around to find no one behind her.

FADE OUT.

FRAME 7 - Genre and how the opening suggest it

Our genre is a hybrid mix of Thriller and Horror. The thriller touches themes like the devil and possession. The horror includes murder, killings and blood.

Our opening suggests these genres with scary-looking characters and bloody hands.

FRAME 8 - How characters are introduced

The two sides of Kaitlyn are shown in our sequence. Firstly, we are introduced to normal Kaitlyn, a typical teenage girl who however is seen to be suffering for bad dreams. Then, we meet possessed Kaitlyn who through the help of makeup, props and special effects, physically looks scarier. In the middle of the sequence, we meet the devil, a dark figure who seems to be 'following' Kaitlyn. This is shown by a progressive sequence of frames in which the girl is seen in a location then the nest frame where the Devil is in the exact same place. 

FRAME 9 - Special Effects

To make it more obvious to the audience that certain frames are 'dreams', through the special effect of 'bloom', we slightly distorted the image. We also emphasised the brightness and contrast to darken the colour of the blood for a bigger contrast and effect.

Originally, we wanted the effect of 'ghost trails' on the frames where the girl and the devil are shown in the different exterior locations. The effect made the shots fade in and out of each other which conveyed the imagery that they were the same person and possibly transformed into each other. The effect unfortunately would not work because of technical difficulties with the Mac. Instead, we darkened the lighting in the frames to emphasise the evil and suffering the Devil causes.

CASE STUDY - Paranormal Activity (2007)

'Paranormal Activity' (2007) directed by Oren Peli

Synopsis: After a young, middle class couple moves into a suburban 'starter' tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to...

Who is it aimed at?
This movie was rated 15 and over because it contains some strong language, moderate horror, intense scenes and moderate supernatural themes
How did it attract attention?
Its unsual camerawork and low budget attacted a big audience because it looked different to all other horror/thrillers.
The film earned nearly $108 million at the U.S. box office and $194 million worldwide.
Reviews?
Paranormal Activity received mix reviews,
An average of 7/10 people from Rotten Tomatoes enjoyed the film and gave it good feedback and reviews.
Roger Ebert from the sunday times claims
'It illustrates one of my favorite points, that silence and waiting can be more entertaining than frantic fast-cutting and berserk f/x. For extended periods here, nothing at all is happening, and believe me, you won't be bored.'
On the other hand, Australian film critic finds "it was extremely unthrilling, very obvious, very cliched. We've seen it all before."
The film was nominated for ;Best First Feature' in the Independednt Spirit Awards 2009.
This film was so successful 'Paranormal Activity 2' is coming out in cinemas October 22nd 2010!

'An American Werewolf in London' and '28 Days Later'

Using your notes, write a comparison of the different ways in which the two openings define themselves as horror films.

An American Werewolf in London (1981) directed by John Landis

Opening credits:

Deserted landscape until a car drives down the road. You meet the two main characters, they are young American men. They walk the rest of the way and enter 'The Slaughtered Lamb' pub where it then goes quiet. The villagers at the pub warn the two men to 'stay on the path' and 'beware the moon'. The dialogue here adds to the horror genre of the film. The Americans ignore their warnings and walk through fields instead, the notice its a a full moon and it starts raining.

 

28 Days Later (2002) directed by Danny Boyle

 

Opening credits: .

Jump cuts move through the setting. A panning shot informs us the scene is set in a Primary Research Centre Lab in Cambridge, England.The audience see violent images on TV screens, you notice monkeys in cages and one tied to a table forced to watch the images on the screens. The dark setting adds to the horror genre. 3 English animal protesters enter shocked by what they see. They dialogue, full of swearing also adds to the film genre. A lab scientist notices the 3 protesters and attempts to ring the alarm. One of the 3 violently stops the scientist and warns him not to make a move. They intend to free the monkeys from the lab but are informed that the animals are infected with rage. They don't listen to him and the women character begins to open a cage, she is jumped on by an infected monkey and is pushed to the floor. As the others attempt to help her, blood splatters on the floor and walls. The blood, violence and disease theme are all conventions of the horror film genre.

Comparison:

Both opening credits can relate to the horror genre as they both include blood, warnings through dialogue and victims from animals. They are both set in England but in different places and are set in different times. 28 Days Later is more modern, this is because of the language and also the mise-en-scene (research lab).
In the first 5 minutes, both films open with at least one person being victimised by an animal. But in 28 Days Later, the first victim is a women, in An American Werewolf in London, the first victim is a man.

Horror Film Case Study

Horror Film Conventions:

• Dark Abandoned Locations
• Monsters and Zombies
• Death, Diseases, Destiny
• Supernatural
• Psychos, baddies with masks
• Victims
• Gore and violence
• Possession by the evil

An American Werewolf in London (1981) directed by John Landis
Opening credits
Deserted landscape until a car drives down the road. You meet the two main characters, they are young American men. They walk the rest of the way and enter 'The Slaughtered Lamb' pub where it then goes quiet. The villagers at the pub warn the two men to 'stay on the path' and 'beware the moon'. The dialogue here adds to the horror genre of the film. The Americans ignore their warnings and walk through fields instead, the notice its a a full moon and it starts raining.

Introducing My Team

IZZY BOOSEY http://izzyboosey.blogspot.com/

A passionate Media Studies school girl, also studies English Language and Sociology. She works the camera well and is good at editing on the Macs. Izzy is fun to work with and is always enthusiastic about our ideas and practical work.

JO MOLLOY http://jomolloy.blogspot.com/

As well as Media Studies, Molloy takes History, English Language and Philosophy and Ethics. She is very good at editing and also drawing storyboard. Jo is great to work with, she comes up with great ideas and comments well on other ideas we have.



MOE CHIPOFIA
As well as Media Studies, Moe takes Sociology, Biology and Psychology. He wasn't oringinally part of our group and so did now appear in our preliminary but we are very happy to have welcomed such a hard worker into our group. Moe is very good at drawing the storyboards, is a good cameraman and has also taken part in acting!

Everyone brings something different into the group, we manage to come up with good work together and yet seem to have fun every lesson. I am looking forward to planning, filming and editing with these guys! :)

Evaluating my Preliminary Task

Task: Film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.
Preparing for the task: Drew storyboards with short explanations of each frame, shot type, diaologue, exteriror/interior. Assembled a tripod and camera.

Filming


My group and I managed to maintain a 180-degree rule shot. For example, shot number 7, the camera slowly panned across the room following character one's actions.

In shots 4 and 5, character 1 is walking up the stairs. In shot 4, we filmed a back view of her walking up, in shot 5, we filmed the front view . For both of these shots, we maintained a long shot to show the full body and the surroundings. We used this for audience not to be confused of where the film was taking place.

Shot reverse shot was used towards the end of our clip, dring the exchanges of dialogue between the two characters. They were both looking in the opposite directions to show to the audience they were looking at eachother. For these shots, we used an over the shoulder frame.

In our preliminary task, we used match on action, shot reverse shot, many close ups, 2 shot, over the shoulder, long shots, extreme close ups while maintaining the 180-degree rule.

My role during the filming was not only to act but to direct the shots and the positioning of other actors.

Editing
I am happy with the final result apart from some minor details. If we had more time during editing, we would have looked into adding titles and transitions between shots, ike fade in and outs aswell as a blackout at the end for dramatic effect. The space we used during fliming i found was limiting and loud. But, the background noises of the road and interior (diegetic sound) added a more realistic ambience to the film. When it came to the two characters meeting, we were on the balcony. The balcony was a good space as it was quiet and calm but, was limiting for long shots and camera movement. I think our shot reverse shot was successful because it was appropriate to the diaologue being said. If we had more lines to exchange, I would have looked into shots of characters reactions as the other characeter was saying a line.

I think we worked very well as a group and shared responsiblities equally when it came to acting, filming and editing.

Using the camera was simple in this case, the tripod was steady and could extend to a great height. We, as a group, had difficulty with Imovie but our editing, in the end, was successsul.

CASE STUDY - The Dark Knight

In this lessson, we've been looking at the film industry, the jobs required and also we've looked closely at Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'.

Directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Writen by Jonathan Nolan. Produced by Chuck Roven. Music composed by Hans Zimmer.

This film was funded by Warner Bros, the homepage can be visited for further information. There is much information provided on their homepage. There are many hyperlinks, for example: videos and photos, synopsis, cast, downloads

There are also several hyperlinks to titles by year, genre and cast which provides a great range for movie lovers.
The web page has been very cleverly designed in the way to have used sinister colours for font and background to match the movie's image of darkness.

Warner Bros is one of the major film studios in the whole world.
It was founded in 1918 ans is still running nowadays.
Has an operating income of $845 million US$
Is owned by Time Warner.
They specialise in motion pictures and television programs.

Comparing the thriller conventions in 'Memento' and 'Insomnia'

Thriller Conventions:

• Fast pace, Jump cuts and Cross cuts
• Fight scenes, violence, weapons
• Powerful 'hard men', heroes and villains
• Psychological
• Exotic locations, foreign cities
• Fast pace music, sound effects --> bombs, guns, explosions

Memento (2000) starring Guy Pearce

ABOUT :A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.

Insomnia (2002) starring Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Robin Williams

ABOUT:

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Both have titles that hint and follow the message of their films. Insomnia has names that fade to suggest blurred vision. Memento has fast pace names until MEMENTO slows down. These films both open with music played by strings, a slow and minor sound. This creates a weary atmosphere and mood.

They both then go on to the pictures. Insomnia opens with blood dripping on a white fabric. Blood is a common convention for a thriller film. Memento also uses it in its opening scene, you notice blood on the wall in the picture that is held up.

In The Beginning

So far in my Media Studies AS, we've looked at 'mise-en-scene' and analysed movie trailers and opening sequences, like

• Gary Ross' 'Pleasantville' (1998), featuring award-winning Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon

• Oscar-winning 'Psycho' (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock

• And finally, 'Die Hard 3' (1995), starring Bruce Willis

We have also done some cinematography work to learn the many different camera shots. Which then lead to editing on the Macs!

A Little About Me

Hi guys,

I am called Agnes Rivet and here are a few facts about me:

I am an AS Media Studies Student at St Peters School in Guidford.

As well as studying Media, my other subjects include French, Theatre Studies and English Literature.

My ultimate dream career would be to become an actress in the theatre and film Industry.

I have had much experience on stage, including plays and musicals. Like Annie, Guys and Dolls, Much Ado About Nothing.. I'm currently rehearsing for school's production of Les Miserables and company Ghosts' production of Little Shop of Horrors. :)

Moreover, I have acted in my brothers' film's Opening Sequence, giving me valuable experience in this area of the cinematic Industry.