Evaluation task 7- progression from preliminary task

I feel I have learnt a lot since my preliminary task, mainly in the areas of camera shots, editing and lighting. As our criteria was to film someone opening a door, entering a room, sitting down opposite someone and having a conversation we simply worked with shot reverse shot, match on action and 180 degree rule. Yet in our final film opening we used a variety of shots and sound effects.

One of the biggest problems with my preliminary task was in the first shot, as there is clearly too much space above Abby's head, the flow and continuity between the rest of the shots was disrupted and there was then a jump from this shot to another.





This was then something we kept in mind for our film opening and tried to have as little of the surroundings as possible in the shot, for the focus to then be on the character as much as possible. 

In the following shot reverse shots it is far too light, looking back on this now I should have adjusted the settings on the camera or changed the lighting in the room.

Lighting was something we worked a lot with in the film opening as you can see in the shots below. As we wanted to keep it as creepy and dark as possible, due to it being a horror film, we used a lot of artificial light from torches to have enough light as was necessary and to keep the creepy sense. We also changed the setting on the camera to accommodate the low lighting.

In regards to editing, in my preliminary task matching the opening of the door in the first shot with the second shot was something I really struggled with, looking at it now it still doesn't fully match up. Another problem was the lack of sound in the last shot, contrasting to the rest of the piece.

Although we didn't have any speaking in the film opening, we used a lot of sound effects such as the closing of the door, music in the titles and the heartbeat to emphasise the story line and shot. So going back to the last shot of my preliminary task I would add in the sound of a gasp to emphasise her shock. 

Evaluation task 6

We have learnt quite a bit about technologies during our horror opening film. There was many programmes which we used such as final cut ( this is where we spent all our time editing the horror opening film) and i movie( this was where we imported our work from the camera and then only imported from that the clips which we wanted on to final cut). Live type (this was used so that we could put our credits in and style the words how we wanted to)
and moviemaker (this was used for our podcast). The learning of new technology was a great a learning experience for both of us and now we could both say that we are much more confident when it comes to editing.

We also used YouTube for our music during the credits at the beginning which were thought best suited for our horror film opening. YouTube was also used to upload our film therefore we could read any comments from the people who watched it. 

Blogger was used quite a bit in order to show our process throughout the film. On the blogger we had done a podcast and used movie maker so that we could have pictures be shown while we spoke.

We went on to a music website to download free sound effects such as the heartbeat and the door shutting to make our horror film more effective and make it that much more scarier. 

For the lighting we had to use final cut to either dim the light or make the light brighter according to the scene. For the sound and just generally for the clips the famous tool we used in final cut was the razor blade which helped us to cut all our slips up and move them around. We could also use it so that we could end the sound when we wanted to. 

Evaluation task 5

This interview shows how the film opening links to other similar films in order to attract the particular Audience that i have previously identified. The interview shows the key conventions of this genre which will therefore attract the audience which this film is aimed at as the main key conventions for a horror film are shown. In the opening we have used music and why we did this is explained. Similarities with other movies are shown and we have identified why red eyes was such a key factor to our film opening.

Evalutation task 4: Audience Profile

This is our audience profile, our film is mainly aimed at teenagers of around 15 years of age but also ranges to adults of around 30 years of age. Focusing on the teenagers; we maintain that people of this age watch our film because teenagers love the thrill of scaring themselves and the intense sense of anticipation created when watching a horror film.

Evaluation Task 3- Podcast

Here is our podcast detailing the role of our production company, Stealth productions, and who, given the opportunity we would like to work with.The podcast also features facts about Hammer Productions and what they have worked on as well as the idea of the a distributor and who it might be and why.

We chose to keep the titles simple and show the main roles such as who wrote, who directed and who edited the film. This was because we did not want the titles to consume the opening and the actors chose not to be in the opening credits.

We felt that with the use of flashbacks in our opening there is a similarity to films like 'Scream' as this was also a feature in these films. We also felt it had similarities to films like 'Rosemary's baby' in its supernatural element and 'The Shining' with our use of blood.

We would have also liked to worked with Warned Bros. as our distributor. Warner Bros. area worldwide distributor based in America which would have meant that in working with them our film would have got the publicity it deserves.

Evaluation task 2

How does your media product represent particular social group?

For Anusha in our film opening we wanted to give a sense of creepiness and yet at the same time make her quite mysterious to the audience almost as if they know she is there but will never be able to really figure her out and whom she truly is, therefore not knowing her true personality.

Voldemort is similar in the sense that in the series almost no witch or wizard dares to speak his name, instead referring to him by epithets such as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "the Dark Lord". This gives a sense of nobody really knowing his true personality, how much power he has or the lengths he would go to. So they know little about him, similarly to Anusha. This leads him or her to be scared of this being and this is what we try to achieve with Anusha aka the villain.

 It is even possible to relate both Maria as the innocent victim being like harry potter as the villain seems constantly after Maria and this is the same with Voldemort being after Harry potter. We had used Maira as our main protagonist as she is there to represent teenagers. Maria was also used as she can be related to by teenagers and as she wakes up from her nightmare we see the typical girly pink room with JLS poster and her in pyjamas. Another reason we picked Maria is because she is a young female protagonist therfore showing the audience that she is vunerable and helpless in her nightmare. 

In the film, Voldemort shows us that he has supernatural abilities and this can be seen with the villain in our film as it gives of the idea that this being has a supernatural ability. Both Voldemort and Anusha wear cloaks, as we never wanted to reveal what Anusha was wearing underneath, as this would give her away as clothes can really describe someone.

Therefore our villain is more of a complex type of character then Voldemort yet their basic characteristics are similar. Therfore Anusha fits the criminal social group at the very least. Maria on the other hand fits the teenage social groups.

 

Evaluation task 1

The is the title of our film,Incubus, we chose this because we felt that it give a sense of mystery towards our film but also due to its meaning of 'demon' we felt it gave it a dark and sinister tone.  

We chose this particular font because it looks as if it had been hand written and we felt it created an immediate impression of a supernatural and timely element that would then be present throughout the subsequent scenes.This is also why we chose to use the shot of the candle behind the font as we felt this added and completed the titles. 

At this point in the opening the music starts, we chose slow piano and violin music that we felt fitted with the conventions of a typical horror film but also added suspense and a creepiness to the simple shots. 

The story behind our opening is that there is a demon that is chasing after/hunting down the protagonist to change her to become the same creature as the demon. In this shot is the protagonist, Maria's, friend who the demon has killed to show Maria the power she has. Our opening ends with both Maria and the demon together  and the flashes of their red eyes, this is intended to show they are now both demons and that from this point on they will be working together to achieve the original demons plans. 

In this shot it is clear that Maria is our protagonist, she is in a clear state of distress and danger as she is tied to a chair, with blood on her wrists and screaming. We aimed to make it as clear as possible that Anusha was our demon through the use of the red eye contact lenses and the cape as well as the silence that surrounds her in each of her scenes which we hoped develop the idea of an ominous being.

Here can be seen some of the props and costumes we used. We used a cape to allow the audience to identify Anusha as our demon, whilst also using the typical horror film convention of creep lighting. We tried to use the lighting to our advantage to emphasise other props that were intended to add to the tension such as the knives inside the box lit by one of the torches. 

This shot shows the red eyes of the demon, played by Anusha, with the camera work in this shot we tried to maintain a small amount of movement so that the shot was not static and kept the movement of the total film but also allowed for it to be an obviously different shot that stood out to the audience. We also lit the face so that the rays of light only hits a small part of Anusha's face and so maintains the ominous tone surrounding the character.

One of the main locations we used was the school cellar because it is in itself creepy and develops the horror film convention of an isolated and unsettling setting. We also used this location for our opening because it held potential props such as stacks of old books that added to our supernatural convention.

Here can be seen our special effects, we used fake scar tattoos on Maria's arm to allude to the previous shots of her being tied to a chair and her arms being cut and bleeding because of the rope. We also used a large amount of fake blood and cotton wool to make wounds and cuts in previous scenes.