Evaluation Marking

1) I can't see the prezi
2) Tackles the lead character but not other film characters
3) Is Rogue Studios one of your companies? They're not in your film?! Some reasonable points in this but once again yu talk about Blair witch without mentioning the marketing strategy!
4) I don't understand your point about secondary audience. Psychographics aren't physical factors- they are psychological factors! Not much depth to BBFC classification
5) Mentions different methods but not in depth explanation
6) Again brief discussion of the process
7) No video

Level 2 8–11 marks • Basic skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation. • Basic understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production. • Basic ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes. • Basic understanding of their development from preliminary to full task. • Basic ability to communicate.

Nathan 8/20

Film Opening- Marking

Level 2 24–35 marks
There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical skills:
• Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task;
• using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene;
• using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.

I'm afraid this is not great.
The material is appropriate but unclear in places
The titles are squashed into an early section just after the narrative intro.There is an attempt at about 1.09 to edit the music with the cut to the doll but this is not done particularly well
The camera is never controlled. I appreciate that you were going for the found footage look but it is wobbly to the point of unclear in places. There is a difference between shaky and hand held and unfortunately you have too much of the former

The sound is all over the place- the jarring silence after the production titles, the sudden jump in volume at around 1.15....

There is some editing which gives the audience a sense of meaning but it is basic

24/60

Evaluation Activity 7

Preliminary

When filming the preliminary, I got my first idea on what it was like to film and edit. I was introduced to the editing software when editing my prelim. This was very useful to me because it helped me figure out how to use the software and how to cut clips and edit sound files. My task was to show my understanding of the 180 degree rule, match on action and the shot/reverse shot. I managed to do the shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule without any problem. The match on action took me a few attempts. The match on action involved me walking through a door. The camera cut from me taking a step into the door and then cutting to me walking through it. I had to attempt it multiple times because I couldn’t get the right angle of me walking in from the inside. This didn’t prove to be too much of a problem as it only took a few tries.

I had about 3 minutes worth of footage overall and I condensed it down into about 45 seconds. This made me aware that for my opening I would need to film more than I will probably need.

Overall I was happy with my opening, I effectively showed the three shots and also had a variety of camera shots. The only thing I would do differently again if I had the chance was to change the audio because the audio is not loud enough on my prelim and is also not very clear. Other than that I was very happy with the preliminary because it helped me to understand the editing software I would be using for my opening.

Opening

When I did my opening, I spent a lot of time looking for the most suitable location to film at. I spent a lot of time researching location and props because they were essential parts to my film. I was happy with the props I used because I got the inspiration for some of them from online examples of sinister clips. Editing and framing however did cause a lot of problems when filming. The light levels because an ongoing problem when I was trying to film. Some days were darker than others which meant that I had to miss some days of filming. This threw my schedule behind which means I had to edit my filming schedule which was not productive for me in terms of other work I had to carry out.

I am very pleased with the production logos and their sound effects because I managed to loop the clock noise so it sounds natural and also to fit with the footage. I am also happy with the talking scenes because I edited the voice volume and background volume so that the voice was clear to hear but at the same time could hear the ‘wind’ sound effect. When filming, I disliked some of the editing between the sinister clips because I wanted some of the sinister clips to flash quickly. I couldn’t do this however because my editing software did not have that feature.

If I had the chance to do this project again, I would make sure I changed the storyline to one that uses the daytime because the light levels became an on going problem that changed my filming schedule and I would also change the editing software I used because it was difficult to edit the sound clips so the loops sounded natural and also because my editing software did not have the ability to flash.

Through this whole process, I developed my skills as I director and producer because I not only learned how to produce a film, but learn about all the other processes that are involved such as risk assessments and marketing. I enjoyed learning the process that directors have to go though when planning and it also helped me analyse certain shots which is a vital skill in media when you need to analyse clips.

Some of the skills I learnt are transferable because framing and analysing shots are a vital part of media studies as interpreting clips is important when filming.

Evaluation Activity 6

Evaluation Activity 5

The Evaluation Activity 5 can be found on slide share. Here is the link to view my slide share.

https://www.slideshare.net/secret/yrwBsqmengbGqc

Evaluation Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For the age 15 viewers. I would expect them to most likely watch my film through websites such as: Netflix and Amazon Stream. These websites tend to be popular with the younger audiences. In my research, I have found that horror films are very popular with the younger generation because they like the jump scares. The reason the BBFC would give this film an age 15 rating is because there is scenes of horror and infrequent bad language however the film doesn't focus on blood or gore. I came up with this target audience because my questionnaire results shows that age 15 films are the best because they don't focus on blood and gore.

Psychographics are the physical factors about certain people, this can be things such as: Age, gender, race ext. My film is directed towards adventurous people because this film is about exploring the woods to find the 'Grove Devil'. My demographics will focus on all people aged 15 and over and living in the UK because my film is originally going to be launched in the UK and if it sells well, we will add subtitles in other languages so people in other countries will be able to watch our film.

Other films my audience would like would be: The Blair Witch project and Catfish. This is because both them films are horror style documentary films which is the type of horror genre my film is. Equally people who like The Blair Witch Project will also like my film because it is inspired by Blair Witch and I have taken inspiration from it.

The primary male would be a 15-18 years old
The primary female would be 15-18 years old

My secondary audience would be all the people aged above because even though they are my audience, the largest audience will be the people aged 15 years old because my focus group showed that the younger generation prefer films such as Blair Witch. Since my film has got inspiration from the Blair Witch, the younger generation should like my film.

Evaluation Activity 3

My Evaluation Activity 3 is on Slide Share. I have posted the link below:

https://www.slideshare.net/secret/m8RrcXNN7Ep8tE

Evaluation Activity 2

Within the opening, very little is known about the character. We do not find out his name and why he is finding the 'Grove Devil'. The idea in the opening is for the audience to see the character but learn about him throughout the story. From the opening alone, we know he is investigating the 'Grove Devil'. It is hard to compare this character to someone as we don't know who he is as that is going to be outlined throughout the film.

As for the social group, we can see he is a teenage boy who appears to be a potential to the 'Gove Devil'. As he is out exploring on his own in the woods late at night, we understand that he is an adventurer and also an explorer as he is navigating unfamiliar woods by himself. The reason for not being able to compare this character with someone else is because in horror films, the protagonist is normally introduced and we can get an impression of the characters to see what his personality is like. For example whether he is; Lazy, smart, adventurous ext.


In this opening, I chose not to reveal this information as this information was going to be told throughout the film. This is not common in a horror film because the protagonist is typically introduced straight away. For this reason I am unable to compare my character to anyone else because he is not like anyone else. When I planned the storyline, I tried to see who my character related to but I couldn't find anyone that was similar to my character because I couldn't find any other protagonists that weren't introduced in the storyline.

We can assume from what he was doing and where he was going, he would be represented as brave and courageous as he still went and tried to track the 'Grove Devil' down despite him knowing how dangerous the task was and what had happened to previous victims. In terms of psychographics, this character would be an adventurer.

This in turn makes the character more unpredictable as he don't get any idea of his personality traits which means any plot twist or character twist couldn't easily be predicted as the character wouldn't give any indication of change. My research showed that having an unpredictable storyline in horror is one of the factors that makes a horror film scary as you don't know what is going to happen. This as a result leaves the audience uncertain as to whether he is a protagonist or antagonist. This for me is one of the factors that would make this film scary. Not being able to empathise with the character or know whether he is a protagonist or antagonist adds more tension as the plot is less predictable.

Evaluation Activity 1

Storyboard

This storyboard outlines the key scenes that are in my opening and about the shot types and sound.

 

 

Focus Group

For my focus group, I had a conversation with a mix of people, some who study media and some that don't. I wanted to find out whether the less experienced consumers of media have the same or different feelings about horror films.

The first question I asked was: Do you think age 18 films are more scary than age 15 horror movies. The response was mixed, some of the people said that age 18 are more scary because they can have more blood and gore which means that it can be more scary. The others however said that age 15 films are scary. They thought this because you don't need blood and gore to make a horror film scary. They believed that a good story line is what makes a film scary as well as jump scares. From this mixed opinion it is clear to see that there is not one clear answer which one is more scary because there are different factors which can affect whether the film is scary such as: Jump scares, good storyline and choice of music and sound effects.

My second question to the group was: What makes a good horror film? Again there was multiple different answers because this was down to opinion as there are different reasons why to like horror films. Just like in my questionnaire, I found that some people find jump scares the scariest part of a horror film whereas some people find that a good storyline is what makes a film scary. From this question, some said that they find a good storyline makes the film. This is as repeatable storylines and predictable storylines takeaway the element of surprise. Some said that music is a strong contributing factor towards making a film scary because the music compliments the footage and helps to build up tension such as music stings that compliment jump scares.

My next question was: What is the difference between a age 15 film and an age 18 film? There were a lot of answers for this question. Firstly, 18 films are allowed more frequent use of bad language and violence. Age 18 films are also allowed a lot more sexual scenes and frequent of drugs. Age 18 films can also focus on blood and gore where as age 15 films can include blood and gore but it cant have frequent use or focus on it. The media students I asked were more knowledgeable about age ratings as they have knowledge of the BBFC film classification rating system whereas the older generation are less familiar with the difference between age ratings so some of them passed the question as they didn't know any differences between the two age rated films.

I then asked the group: Do you think jump scares are the best way to make a horror film scary? Everyone agreed that jump scares are the most effective way to make a horror film scary. This is as they are unexpected which creates a tense atmosphere. This result also matched the result I got in my questionnaire as in my questionnaire I found that most people agreed that horror films are the scariest part. This is why they are common in horror films because most people like 'cheap jump scares'. The reason they are known as 'cheap jump scares' is because the music typically goes quiet and fades to silence and then there is a big music sting followed by a jump scare. This is typically used in most horror films and is what people in my focus group and questionnaire agree makes a horror film the most scary.

My final question to the group was: What is your favourite horror film? A lot of people said 'pass' because they couldn't think of a favourite. These are some of the responses. Silence of the Lambs, Saw and The Conjuring. The first horror film is a classic. This horror film doesn't include jump scares and is only scary because of the storyline. This is an example of a horror film where the horror is in the story and not done through jump scares. Saw is based on scenes that focus on horror and gore, Saw is a franchise and has multiple films. This film is scary because of the sickening horror and gore. The final film is scary because of the jump scares. Even though I haven't seen The Conjuring, I have heard from friends that The Conjuring is full of jump scares. From these films, I can see that people have different choices of music based on different conventions of horror films.

This focus group was very useful as it made me more aware of audience expectations and what constitutes a good horror film. This also helped me compare the results to my questionnaire to see if I got similar results.

Marketing

There are multiple different of which a film can be marketed. It is very important when planning a film to know how you are going to market your film. Research must be done on how your selected demographic will be consumed. My film is going to be given an age 15 rating. This means I need to market my product towards that specific demographic. This would need require a promotional campaign where research will be conducted into the best way to attract my specific target audience. I would start my creating a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account. This is because these social media sites are regularly used by millions of users. On these social media sites, I would post teasers and screenshots of behind the scenes of the filming process. One of the reasons for this is because we want to create a following before the film is released. This is because if we interact with our audience before the film then they will feel more in touch with the process and it will help them appreciate enormity of work that is carried out in the planning, filming , editing and marketing work that is carried out.


For example, this film trailer on YouTube got over 2 million views in less than 24 hours and hit number 1 on trending. This shows that YouTube has a strong film community. This is where I would post my trailer as there is a large community where my desired target audience can consume the trailer.

I would then add film updates such as progress and behind the scene screenshots to Facebook and Twitter because they have a large film community where people like to check out the process of creating a film. The behind the scene clips and footage should also help to create a fan base where friends will hopefully tell each other so we can create a fan base. This is important as you have to give your audience a reason to come and watch your film and building a fan base early on should ensure that you will have people that will want to come and see your film.

I will also aim to get my film listed on IMDB. This is because it has a large following where people everyday will check the listing for new films to come out. This would be a great way to market the film because you will attract the keen film enthusiasts. Considering my demographic is a 15+ film, it is important I market to a wide range of people because if my film becomes popular then it could receive a lot of money from the box office. This would be really good as it could lead to the production companies filming a second film.

The reason for primarily using internet based methods of promotion is because there is a large film following on the internet where I can interact with the audience and keep them up to date on the films progress. It is important to interact with the audience as they are the ones who will be watching the film and be making money in the box office. Using the internet can also help me reach a broader demographic.

Research and Planning- Marking

Nathan's analysis of the film openings and title sequences demonstrated an in depth understanding of the forms and conventions but did not really get to grips with a variety of different styles of openings and their effects. I liked the prezi on Blair Witch which showed good insight into the effects of the opening on audience. There were a couple of mistakes such as 'connotate' but on the whole Nathan wrote clearly and analysed well. Nathan's later analysis of a scene from Donnie Darko demonstrated a good understanding of technical codes and directorial choices with regards mise en scene. His work on the BBFC, health and safety assessment and film companies demonstrated a clear understanding of media industries although it would have been nice to have seen a more in depth look at what constitutes a 15 and the differences between this and an 18 or 12. Do the BBFC get overruled??

While Nathan's research demonstrated an in depth insight into the effects of directorial choices on an audience, this aspect of his research suffered from a lack of variety. He cited The Blair Witch Project as his sole influence when he had already discussed much of this in his textual analysis. He showed a good understanding of psychographics and demographics and how media industries use these linking it to his own choices. I was a little disappointed in his marketing work which again referenced the Blair Witch. He did not examine potential ways of marketing his own film beyond posters which was disappointing especially given the groundbreaking marketing techniques of his inspiration!

Nathan's posts on Changes, Music, Schedule and editing diaries all chart his progression through the project and the ways in which his idea evolved and was adapted. The posts on Storyboard, Pitch and Props demonstrated a link between product, processes and the creation of meaning as well as an ability to plan and construct a media product. 

Nathan's blog demonstrated a good level of ability with regards analysis and understanding conveying meaning to an audience but suffered from a lack of variety in regards source material and style of blog entry. He used appropriate methods and showed an understanding of research skills. He presented good conclusions which were limited in variety.

Nathan  13/20

Editing Diary- Sound Effects

I had planned some sound effects that I wanted to use in my opening. I had originally planned to use a heartbeat sound effect a cannon sound effect a clock tick sound effect. I later decided that I wasn't going to use a clock ticking sound effect because I had already included the sound effect in my production logo and also because I had changed my plan so I decided not to include it in my opening.

I was looking for a website that offered copyright free sound effects for me to use. I was recommended by a friend to visit a website called: freesound.org. Freesound.org is a place where people sign up and post copyright free sounds for people to use. I spent some time playing through the vast amount of sound effects they have. After going through over 50+ sound effects, I had chosen the sound-effects I was looking for. This stage of the editing process took the longest because
 I had to cut the sound effects over the selected clips. This in its own right took me a long time, however that was not the main issue I faced. Some of the sound effects needed to be played a few times in a row. This became a problem because I had to try and make the transitions between the sound effects sound natural. This took a lot of trial and error and a lot of time and I tried to make it seem as natural as possible.

This did teach me however the significant importance of editing and why it is crucial that you carry out a planning process. Shortening and cutting certain sound effects down and repeating it proved to be a challenge, one that lasted over the course of a few days.

The Opening

This is the link to my film opening video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhoWhEa36vw

This opening is 1:59 which is just under the maximum limit of two minutes that the opening is allowed to be

Editing Diary- Run re-film

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the brightness was a clear issue when filming over different days. I had to re-film me running because the first time I filmed it I found out that it was too bright. I had to re-film me running.

This took me a while to edit because I had to cut the run into smaller sections because if I didn't reduce the run clips it would have exceeded the 2 minute mark and I am not allowed to exceed the 2 minute mark. I also had to adjust the backing track to fit with the run scene.

This did take some trial and error to shorten it to the correct length but it was reasonably simple and didn't take up too much time as I just replicated what I did with the previous footage.

Props

Props was a tricky part to consider when planning my film. Since I changed my film idea in the planning stage it was tricky for me to decide what props to use. I then brain stormed some of the stereotypical items you would expect in a horror film. Some of the ideas I came u with were, Knife, doll, eye, gun and mask. I found however that using a mask wasn't going to be a good idea as I didn't feel that any of the masks were relevant for a devil based film so I decided not to include it. When planning, I had to re-film the eye shot multiple times as it was tricky to get my eye close to the screen without the camera getting very blurry. I found this an issue as the camera found it hard to focus close up but after multiple attempts I got it to focus.

The use of these props are important because they are meant to make the audience confused and wonder what relevance they have to the story. This would be cleared up if this opening was to be turned into a film. Here some of the prop footage that I used within my opening. I filmed more than I used but it is always better to have too many than too little. I also re-filmed some of the shots as I was not happy with them. All of these shots were mine and filmed myself, I did not take them from any copyright free website because I wanted to make my opening as original as possible. When I was looking for props, I was looking for props that were stereo-typically seen as sinister. This is because I wanted to create tension in the opening so people will want to carry on watching my film. My questionnaire results showed that scary horror films are most enjoyable for a 15+ film.

A big factor I had to consider was target market. When filming, I had to take the 15+ audience into account because I have to make sure it is suitable to that specific demographic. 15+ films do not focus on gore or blood. I took this in mind when filming so I didn't focus on blood and gore. This is because if I did, there is a chance my age rating would be increased to an 18. This means my product couldn't be marketed towards my specific target audience. This is why I stuck to sinister clips because I wanted my opening to be tense but without blood and gore.

Editing Diary- Sinister Clips

When it came to editing it involved some trial and error. Some clips required more time than others because some need more concentration. I tried out different lengths for the clips to see which ones needed more viewing time and which didn't.

This picture includes a few of the sinister clips. The clip on the left (The Light) is longer than the clip on the right (The Eye). This is because the light requires more attention as it is turning on where as the right it is just a quick glimpse of an eye.

This is an example of how the sinister clips need to be of different length. I also made all the shots black and white. This is because I feel that colour will make the opening seem less tense. Not having colour also helps with light levels. Some of the shots are filmed on separate days. Bright colours grab the audiences attraction and draws their focus towards it. Taking away the colour helps the audience to focus on the scenery and the camera work.

It took seconds to make the shots all grey-scale but it took time to find the right length for the clips as I didn't want to exceed the 2 minute time limit as the openings have to be under 2 mins.

Editing Diary- Background

This day of editing was reasonably short. This was because I was adjusting the volume of the backing sound effect. When I was speaking I had to lower the volume of the backing.

This took a while because I wanted to make sure that the backing track wasn't too loud but at the same time not too quiet.

I had to adjust the backing volume for the footage because I wanted to make sure the backing track didn't over power the audio.




I also had to fade in the talking because it was very loud when the audio came in so I faded it in so the audio doesn't just start abruptly. This was all the editing that I did this day.

Editing Diary- About the Grove Devil

In my opening, I didn't want to give too much away in terms of the background behind the Grove Devil because I wanted that would have been outlined if I made this opening into a film. For editing, I inserted all four clips of the talking scenes. I then separated the sound from the clip. This is because as I was talking about the Grove Devil, I wanted the audience to see my journey getting to the woods and also to see me talk to the camera. This is because I wanted the opening to feel more personal. This direct address makes the audience feel involved. The cut to the street while I am

talking also allow the characters to feel like they are with me on the journey.

These two shots are screenshots from my talking about the Grove Devil scene. The sound volume had to be edited because it was quite quiet. I had to increase the audio volume and decrease the backing sound effect to make my lines clear when I am talking about the Grove Devil. This is because those lines are very important to the story as they explain who the Grove Devil is and where he is going. Without this information, people would be unsure on why I am going to the woods.

I also had to cut the footage about halfway because I needed the camera to switch from the street to my face because I wanted my face to be included while I deliver the dialogue because I wanted it to feel more personal while addressing the audience. This was because I wanted to add more verisimilitude so that the audience can feel empathy for the character as he goes into the woods alone.

Editing Diary- Logos

My first day of editing was the April 1st. In this session, I worked on putting both production logos in with the backing track. I started by inserting both production logos at the start. I then added in a black picture in between because I wanted it to fade to back between the production logos. I then added in the text over the top of the clip. 

I wanted the a candle for a production because the candle burns because it represents time passing by that cant be taken back. I came up with the Candle Light productions as I was filming a candle. Candles obviously produced light so I thought Candle Light Productions would be a suitable name for this production company. I also wanted to make the logo simple so it is easy for audiences to remember my productions.

The second production logo I had trouble with. I wanted to film a clock time lapse. This is similar to the candle in the sense that it represents time passing by quickly. I tried to film my own time lapse of the clock. After trying multiple times however I was unable to get the time-lapse to be fluent.

I filmed it multiple times but I couldn't get it to spin fast enough so I started looking on a copyright free website of a clock time-lapse. I ended up finding a Clock time-lapse on YouTube that was Copyright free. I then used the footage as a production logo and edited the sound and text over the clock. I made sure it was copyright free as no copyright footage is not permitted in my opening. As you can see the clock is similar to my clock. This is why I chose to use this clock footage because it was similar to my own.

Schedule

When I was planning my Opening. It was very hard to plan the time for shooting because I planned to film my opening in the evening. This soon became a problem as lots of footage had to be re-filmed as on certain days it was darker on others. I filmed on multiple different days to record the footage due to light levels.

The schedule is as follows:

March 10th- I filmed the two scenes that involved me talking about the Grove Devil.

March 15th- I then filmed myself walking towards the doll

April 1st- I then started on my candle production logos

April 2nd- I started editing my footage of me talking about the Grove Devil.

April 8th- I edited the production logs and added the backing

April 9th- I filmed myself running down the path

April 15th- I then filmed myself with the hand of the Grove Devil.

April 16th- I had finished editing the short sinister clips in with the heartbeat sound effect as well as the cannon sound.

April 17th- I re-filmed the run in the woods because the brightness was a lot darker than the other shots. Once I added that shot in, I just had to shorten a few shots.

April 18th- I finished all the editing and exported my opening.

As you can see in the schedule, I had problems with light levels. Unfortunately, predicting light levels in the evening is unpredictable. I knew this may be an issue when planning but I wanted to film in the evening.

Textual Analysis

This is a textual analysis that I wrote about Donnie Darko.

The first shot is a shot at 45 degrees. This represents that Donnie is a bit confused and different to everyone else and shows us that he feels a bit mixed up and confused with certain things. It is also in a low angle position which also suggests he is quite powerful and seems fearless of school and has a sense of security.

This is a long shot ad displays the background clearly. This is effective because it displays the school and you can see the flowers to the left and we get the idea that this is a safe and a nice learning environment and by having the camera at a low angle, it shows that the certain people seen in this shot look ore powerful and bold which shows us that these characters seem more important as the camera is mostly focused on them.

The camera is a close up and we can see Donnie and his friends in this scene. This is a good shot type because we can see Donnie positioned in the middle with his friends around him so we feel like he is the main person and a sort of ‘leader’ who shows us he is more important. We can also see their facial expressions in this shot and their friends are smiling and look smug which gives us the impression that they are the cool group of friends and we feel like they are very important.

This shot is a medium shot because we can see the character and we can also see the background and the people surrounding him. By the look on his face, he looks like he is pulling a stupid face which makes us think he is a bully or a ‘class clown’ The camera shot is about eye level and it makes the audience feel that they are the ones that are looking at him and feel like we are there and the ones that receive the silly look. The camera is closest to Seth and focuses on him which makes us feel like he is an important character and is going to have an involvement with Donnie at some point during the film.

From this scene, we can see a medium shot looking at Ms Farmer. The camera is eye level with her and we feel like we are the ones that she is looking at and walking past her. We see her holding some kind of book which is called: ‘Attitudinal Beliefs’. She has got it to her chest which makes us feel like she really likes/loves the certain document she is holding. When we see her face we see widened eyes and feel like she is staring at us which makes us feel like she is a mean or stroppy character and makes us feel like she is some sort of hated character.

In this scene. It is a close up because we can see her and part of the background. This is an effective shot because It shows her face so when we see her later in the story we recognise her. We can also tell she is very attached to her family because she has a picture of what looks like her brothers In the locker. This tells us there may be family problems and that she may not be very close to her family. This is a zoom shot and this zooms in so we can see the contents of her locker to show us what sort of character she is.

In this scene it is a medium shot because we can see the background as well as the characters. It has to be a medium shot because the Head Master walks past so we need to be able to see Seth and The head Master. In this shot the camera is tracking Seth and makes us feel as if we are the watching him and following him throughout the scene. This is effective because the audience feels as if they are here with him and gives us the impression as to what type of school it is and whether it is a well behaved school or not.

At this specific shot, the camera is panning because as he walks round the corner ad the camera doesn't move, it only turns just like the principle turned round the corner. By the look on the principles face suggests that he is looking out for trouble. We see him walk straight past Seth taking what looks like drugs. This shows us he don’t really care and shows us that he is not a good headmaster as he does not follow the rules and does not care about what the pupils are doing.

In this scene, we see a follow shot because it is as if the audience is walking behind the headmaster and makes us feel like we are following him. We see the head teacher walking towards the door so we feel like he is going outside. 

This shot is a close up because we can see ‘The Mongrel’ and some of the background. It is a huge statue in the school which makes us feel like it is symbolic to the school and we feel like this is the mascot and makes us feel as if this is a very important and treasured object by the school. This shot is a tilt because the camera looks down the monument from top to bottom which is used to show us the whole statue and the people who are sitting below. Then the camera pans because the camera goes side to side to show the people who are sitting on the benches below the school statue.

In this scene, we see people sitting below the statue doing work and reading things. From this we feel like these people are essentially seen as ‘the school nerds’. We see a zoom shot on Chunita which gives us the impression that we will be seeing her at some point in the film. Then the camera tracks because it is as if the audience is walking over towards Ms Farmer. Using tracking shots In a school is one of the best ways to get the impression of the school because by tracking, it makes the audience feel like they are there at the school and see everything that goes on and because we feel like we are there, it gives us a good idea on what the school is generally like and what sort of people attend this school.

This scene is a medium shot because we can see all of the characters in the school. We see Ms Farmer looking at him and smiling which makes us feel like she really likes him and is some sort of big fan. We see the headmaster shaking his hand and because this is a school, we feel like he has something to do with education. This makes us feel like he is going to have some sort of involvement later on in the story and that he is a big part of the story. Earlier on in the scene. We see Ms Farmer holding some sort of book or document of him. This shows us that she is a big fan of him and that he is some sort of fan of him.

In this shot, it is also a medium shot because we can see multiple people within this shot. We can tell that this is some sort of important person because they are all  shaking him and talking to him. By Ms Farmer smiling it gives us the impression she likes him and is some sort of fan about whatever he does.

This scene is a close up and we can only see their shoulders. We can see them staring a each other as they are walking along. Ms Pomeroy is smiling and looking into his eyes. This shows us that there is some sort of romance between the characters and there is some sort of attraction between them. It is effective that they used a medium shot because it allows us to see their facial expressions which show the audience that there is some romance between them by the way they are staring at each other.

This shot is a medium shot as we can only see part of her body. We see her glancing down the playground. This shows us that she is intrigued by something. We she lines on her forehead which suggests that she might be annoyed or shocked by something. We normally connotate them as anger or a sense of annoyance which implies that she might be concerned about something. By the camera movement tracking her, we can really understand what's going on as we can see it as if we were there and in second person as we are seeing her through someone else's eyes.

This is a long shot as we can see their whole body and we see them standing in a line. They are all wearing the same costumes which implies that they are some sort of group/act that dances together. We see Samantha in the middle dancing which makes us feel like she is the most important person and is some sort of leader of her group. This is proven when the camera zooms in on Samantha which implies to us she is more important. This is effective because it shows us who is the most important character in the group.

In this shot we see them high fiving each other which shows us that they are all friends and they all have a good relationship with each other. This shot is also a zoom and centres Samantha which shows her importance and role within the shot. The use of the medium shot is effective because we can see their expressions on their faces so we can tell they are happy and pleased with what they have done.

This shot is also a medium shot because we can see her facial expressions as well as the school 

children within the background.  Her facial expressions show us that she looks a bit upset and annoyed which shows that she is annoyed or upset with something that she is feeling. The camera shot is a tracking shot because we can see her from someone else's point of view and it helps us to understand how she is feeling. 

In this scene it is a long shot because we can see the whole class within a classroom. The teacher is in the centre which emphasises her importance within the scene and shows us that she is a main character. We can see her with glasses on which shows us she is concentrating.

This scene is still a long shot because we can see her whole body. We can see her with glasses looking down at a book which shows us that she is concentrating which shows us that she is focused and switched on ready to teach. 

Pitch/ Brief

Outline

Similar to The Blair Witch Project, my film will start off with the production logos followed by a message telling the audience when the recordings were taken and when they were found. This is to add verisimilitude to make the film seem more real. My film has a big difference to The Blair Witch Project. My opening starts with the end of the film and finished with a  "three weeks earlier..." message. This is not only so we can jump into some action to grab the audiences attention, but also to make the audience want to watch on to find out what happened leading up to the sequence. I will firstly start by packing a bag like I'm going for a journey. I will then follow up by talking about the 'Grove Devil' I will then make a journey into the woods to uncover the truth. Once I enter the woods, I walk down the path leading into the woods in search of the Grove Devil. I then continue my journey but have strange visuals in my head as I go deeper into the woods. I then come across this doll with an arrow pointing deeper into the woods. There is then a loud cannon sound that frightens the character causing him to run off deeper into the woods as he tries to run away from the danger. The opening then ends with the Grove Devil's hand grab my shoulder.

The reason I chose to end the opening this point is because I wanted to end on a cliff hanger so the audience would want to carry on to find out what happens at the throughout the film. There is very little props used within my opening. The opening is mostly the camera focusing on me while I give some insight about the Grove Devil before focusing on my journey into the woods.

This film is slightly different to The Blair Witch Project, rather than start from chronological order and show the planning then the adventure. I showed the end of the film first and as the film progresses, it would show the events leading up to the woods. This is so there would be more action at the beginning so it would attract the audiences opinions.

Marketing- Inspiration

My inspiration for my opening was The Blair Witch Project. This was because this film was handheld which made the horror film more believable. When watching a horror film, I believe it is very important for the film to seem believable. This helps the audience to emphasise more with the characters. The Blair Witch Project was rumoured to be true by some fans as they believed some of the footage was real. This inspired me to create my own handheld movie because I wanted to create something that felt more realistic then chiche horror films. Chiche horror films consist of cheap jump scares and unrealistic storylines. I took this into consideration when planning my film. The only difference is at the end of my opening, I decided to add a jump scare because from my questionnaire, I found that jump scares are one of the most enjoyable pats of a 15+ horror film. From my research I also found out that The Blair Witch Project had a 15 age rating. This also helped influence me over the age rating because at first I was unsure. Carrying out my questionnaire also helped me find what the best age rating to use would be.

One of the pictures that gave me inspiration was the missing poster. The missing poster was used to market the film and was released before the film. This poster is what led some fans to believe that The Blair Witch Project happened. This poster includes pictures of the actors alongside age and other detail regarding the character. It also included a message to say to call the sheriff is you have any information about what happened. This poster is what gave me inspiration to create a handheld film because I liked the idea of a film that was realistic and was from the point of view of the characters. as I feel it creates a better storyline that focuses more on the storyline rather than anything else.

Music

Music

When I was looking for a backing track, I made sure that the backing track I used was copyright free. This is because copyrighted music is not allowed as you don't have permission from the producer. I started my search on YouTube for backing tracks. After changing my idea for my opening, I decided to use music  rather than a looped sound effect because I couldn't find a suitable looped sound effect I was happy with. I started searching on YouTube for royalty free music but I couldn't find any suitable backing tracks.

Prelim

My Prelim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVWUpvm4Qo

 

My storyboard at first did not portray what was going to happen. After filming some shots, I decided that I had too many shots so I decided I needed to cut some shots out. I also had to re-film some of the shots because some of the shots were too bright. Due to me taking out some shots, I had to change the order of some of the shots so I had a couple attempts of writing the storyboard.

The shot reverse shot was right at the end of the preliminary. This composed of a short discussion with my brother. I filmed us having the conversation from both of our perspectives and alternated the shots of us talking. I made sure when filming I did not break the 180 degree rule. This is because if you break the 180 degree rule, then people can get confused as they wont know which direction the character is walking. To make sure I stuck to the criteria and also to make it not confusing, I made sure the camera was always within the 180 degrees. For the match on action, I looked up some examples on YouTube of match on action shots. I then decided that I was going to do a match on action shot when I was walking through the door. It took me a couple of attempts to film to get it right but it ended up being successful.

I liked how I followed all three of the compulsory acts and a range of camera shots to make my preliminary more interesting. One thing I didn't like about my preliminary was the audio. The audio quality was quite poor and the speech was quite quiet. If I was to re-do my preliminary, I would only change the audio as the audio quality wasn't great and made the preliminary seem slightly less professional. I have learned to always re-do a shot if you are unhappy with it because you are better of re-filming the shot if you are unhappy with it rather than leave it. I also learned to film a lot of shots because it s better to have too many than too little, as you can always cut out the shots you don't want.

Location

Location


When i first started planning my opening, I wanted to film in Hockley Woods. However I found that there was a lot of roots and little holes in the ground around. This was gonna be a problem because when it gets dark, its going to be hard to notice. I could have cause injury to myself. Also as the woods isn't near any roads, there will be no light around and the trees will block out most of the remaining light. As a result I decided to change location to something more suitable to run in.


I then came to the decision of using Grove Woods as there was easier access and less leaves and roots which means it was safer to run through. The woods is also more spacious which means there is more room to film

Hockley woods has too many people walking through the woods which means people could be intercepting the shots and could make it more of a struggle to film. Therefore Grove will be a more suitable location to film at.

Production Company

My first production company is know as 'Clockwork Studios'. For this production company, I found a royalty free time lapse of a clock. The reason for this is because I tried to record my time lapse but I couldn't get it to work at the right speed I wanted. My other production company was known as 'Candle light productions;. For this production company I filmed a burning candle and filmed it up close. Both of these ideas were both thought of by myself however I did need to use a royalty free clock time lapse.

The name of the film is called: 'The Grove Devil'

I chose a devil because devils are associated with horror and are typically quite scary as devils are associated with evil. The reason for calling it the Grove Devil is because I filmed the opening in Grove Woods. Therefore I found it fitting to name the devil after its location. This will also make people aware that the devil is associated with the woods.

Demographics and Psychographics

Changes

Over the course of carrying out the blog, I made a few changes to the blogs for multiple reasons. This post outlines some of the changes and why I made them.

I planned to base my theme around a murder taken place in the woods of Hockley. Situations changed however and my friend was unable to participate in my opening which meant I had to think of someone else to be in my media film. Another problem I encountered was the story itself. One of the props I planned to use was a wheelbarrow. After planning my story, I realised that getting the wheelbarrow to my location wasn't going to be a possibility due to the fact the wheelbarrow was far to big to fit in the car. This meant I had to re-draft my story as my desired story line wasn't going to be an option.

Original Location

Later on I found it would be better to use a different woods as it was closer to the road so I could get there quicker. There was also less tree cover so there was more lit than Hockely woods. This meant I would be able to film there at a later time than I could of in Hockley woods.

New Location

After visiting both the locations, I found that Grove woods had a lot less roots and leaves on the floor, this was good as it meant it would be safer to run, which I mentioned in my risk assessment.




As you can see in the new location, it has better access to the road and an open sky which made it easier to get enough light to be able to film. This meant I had the opportunity to bring props which I would have previously not been able to use. This opened more filming ideas that I could think about.

Due to being busy a few days during my holiday, I had to delay some filming days which meant I had to also set editing back a few days. Thankfully this didn't cause an issue for me.

These were the only changes I made during the filming process as everything else went to plan.

Marking Previous Work

Influences

Influences

My film is very strongly influenced by The Blair Witch Project. When I was planning my film, I wanted to have a hand held film to create verisimilitude. I took the idea of having a message about when the film was found and what it is about. However I adapted that idea by starting near the end of the film as oppose to the start of the film. This is because I feel if it was going to be made into a full film, it would be more interesting as people will want to watch on to find out the story behind what happened in the woods. Some people believed the Blair Witch was real due to the 'footage found' message and also the missing poster. This for me is very interesting as this made the fil a lot scarier as it felt realistic which allows the characters to emphasise with the main character. This as a result led me to creating a handheld film in the style of Blair Witch. I personally prefer horror films that rely on the storyline to make the scary as appose to jump scares, this again also influenced my decision to make a handheld horror as Blair Witch was similar to the style of horror films I prefer.

Health and Safety/Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

There was only one scene that could have caused danger. In my opening, there is a scene at the end where I am running through the woods to escape the' Grove Devil'. To prevent any injuries, I planned the route I was going to run to ensure I wasn't going to trip over any tree trunks or roots. This is especially since it was very dark outside and visibility was limited. It was important that I planned out where I was going to run as if I tripped over I could have really hurt myself. I also had to stage me falling over. I did previously plan how I was going to fall over as there were sharp stones around and I didn't want to cause any injury to myself.

Just for added security, I had others around me and a phone in case I had any injuries. If an injury occurred, I was easily be able to get help and wouldn't be in any immediate danger.

BBFC

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) are an independent non-governmental body that give films age ratings.

The BBFC have split the age ratings six different sections. They are: U, PG, 12A, 12, 15 and 18.

BBFC

The BBFC are a not-for profit organisation that that classifies cinema films, DVD's and videos.  The films are normally reviewed by at least two examiners following their published guidelines. It is very important that the examiners stick to the guidelines because they have to assess certain factors such as: Violence, language, Sex, sexual violence and drugs. Depending on how they are shown and for how long can determine their age rating. However local authorities can overrule the BBFC's decisions but the BBFC is widely accepted as the BBFC being overruled is very uncommon.


My horror film

My questionnaire results showed that a 15 rated film would be best for a horror film. This is also the same rating as The Blair Witch Project which is where I got my inspiration from. 15+films are able to have strong language and also violence which could be present in a horror film. After watching back over my horror opening, I believe my film is still a 15+ horror film as there is strong signs of threat. If I was going to continue the film, this film would probably include some strong language and scenes of a threatening nature. What makes this different from an 18+ film is that there will be no focus on pain and injury and no sadistic imagery. *See guidelines for more information*

Questionnaire

This is the questionnaire that I gave out to people

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C2XYSLL

This questionnaire contained 9 questions about the horror genre. I did this questionnaire so I can fin out peoples opinions about horror films and to find out why horror films are scary.

I will break each questions responses down to see what the majority went with.

1) what age rating do you expect a horror film to be?

12
12A
15
18

100% of the respondents all went with the 15 category. This is as there isn't as much violence in 12 rated films but a 15 can however. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) sais that 15 films can include: threat, violence and sex. 12 films however only have small amounts of violence and no emphasis on injuries or blood. This research is useful to question 2 as question 2 asks about their favourite horror sub-genre.

2) What of these genres do you prefer most in horror films?

Blood and gore
Psychological
Thriller
Monster based

The answers were very mixed. 40% of the respondents answered blood and gore. 20% of people went for each other category. This shows that there is not one traditional horror genre. In fact, people like a mix of different sub-genres. Blood and gore got the majority and blood and gore is featured in a 15 film which shows a clear match between the two. So far, the assumption I can make is that a good horror film has violence.

3) Do you think jump scares are essential to horror films?

80% of the respondents said that jump scares are essential to horror films. I personally don't believe that jump scares are essential because a good atmosphere can make the film scary, however most horror films now have jump scares as they are used to make the atmosphere tense and to scare the audience suddenly. Some argue however that they are cliché as jump scares tend to be very predictable as the music tends to cut, followed by silence, then a big music sting that frightens the audience. From my responses, I can make the assumption people enjoy jump scares and they have a positive impact on the film. The other 20% said that they are only essential if they assist the storyline, not just to scare the audience. This also shows that some people don't like jump scares to make the audience jump as they are a 'cheap' way of making the audience feel scared.

4) What do you dislike most about horror films?

For this question it was spilt equally among 5 different choices: Jump scares, no storyline to them, repeated storylines, predictable and clichés. This shows that horror films typically follow a certain structure as if they don't like conventions of horror films, they must happen a lot.

5) In your opinion, what makes horror films scary?

Despite jump scares being the most disliked convention of horror films, they are the most scary convention of horror films according to my questionnaire. This shows that jump scares are seen as a 'cheap' scare and that verisimilitude and a good storyline is the best way to scare people. From this, I can make the assumption that jump scares are both the most effective but also the most disliked convention.

6) Are horror films more scary if the villain wears some kind of mask?

60% agreed that masks somewhat make the film more scary. This is because not establishing a face to the villain is scary as you re uncertain as to who is the villain. This also makes the characters somewhat more iconic as for example Saw has the jigsaw mask which is iconic to the saw franchise. This means that having a mask will somewhat make the film more scary.

7) What would you expect in an opening to a horror film?

There were a few different answers for what is expected. They were as follows:
A image of the main character, story background, some sort of killing and jump into the action with a false set of security. Due to there being lots of different responses, it shows that not all horror films would start the same and that it is down to the directors choice of how he wants to do the opening to a horror film. Introducing the main character however was the most popular answer which tells you that being introduced to the characters is one of the most important conventions of an opening.

8) What is your favourite horror film?

All the films were different. They are as follows: Saw 3, Scary movie, Insidious. The Others and Shawn of the Dead. I cant make any assumptions based on this as al the films are different and some are of different horror sub genres.

9) What makes the chosen film your favourite?

Again since all the films were different, all the answers were different. The answers were as follows: Lots of blood and realistic, has a comedy element, good storyline, ghost film with a twist and scary but didn't give me nightmares. From these results all that I can tell is that people enjoy horror films for different reasons. Which doesn't draw me to any valid conclusion.

Year 13 Talk

A screenshot from a Shenfield blog

Although at our Sixth form we don't have any year 13 students. I have looked at blog examples from year 13 Students from Shenfield. I have looked at Shenfield blogs for inspiration on my blogs. I have also looked at them to see what could have been improved on their work. I have looked for improvements that I feel were perhaps too little detailed and could be elaborated upon.

 

If I was to hold a talk with year 13 students, I would start by asking them to each explain their strongest and weakest areas of their blogs. I would then collate all this information and see what the common weaknesses are. I would also ask them to pick a year 12 student and get the year 12 pupil to assess to ask questions relating to what the blogging process was like and what advice they would give to you. I feel that having a discussion with a year 13 student would strongly benefit year 12 students and year 13 students have had first hand experience and their advice would be really relevant.

I personally would have four separate discussions on each of the flour areas:

1. Planning
2. Observation
3. Discussion
4. Reflection

This would be beneficial as this structure will give the year 12's the best advice which will help them with their blogs.