Issue raised

Unfortunately, there has been technical difficulties that I have accoutered as my focus group has been removed off my blog, however the information and evaluations of the focus group are still up.

Question 7

Firstly, the process of planning for my preliminary task, I felt it was very detailed and I had to think about different aspects which I would have to use in my final product, that would make it look better overall, there was a lot of technical or non-technical components that were needed for the final preliminary task, furthermore I had to make sure that my storyboard was ready before my filming took place however I learnt that even with a completed storyboard ideas can change and I think this gives the film a lot more of a creative aspect and there was always space for tweaks and improvements.

Secondly, when I began filming for my preliminary task I had to include specific shots that the exam board had given me, which were; over the shoulder, 180 degree rule and shot reveres shot. Although in my final horror film that I have done I could choose what shots, angles and transitions I want to use.

Finally, when editing I didn’t have a clear understanding of final cut pro and what worked well and didn’t, so I spent a couple of hours just checking on YouTube, Google and on the product itself of what the effects, colours and buttons did, however I am now very aware and have a good understanding of the way the editing process works so I could complete my final horror film in a confident way, as I had used the software in my preliminary.

Question 6

Question 4 and 5

Question 3

The first two charts are showing what the best/top horror films that were shown at the box office, what there gross profit was, which company produced it and what the audience has rated it.
The third chart was a graph to show the box office sellings of horror movies in the cinema.

From these graphs I researched the top diffrent films and took some idea from them to put into my opening sequence, I looked at the diffrent distribution companies and look at what other films they had created. 

Question 2

Presentation1 from Megan Evans

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my final media product I have represented a particular social class. I decided to make my main character even though she is only young she looks as though she is from a middle class family, as you can tell that the setting of the film is in a house and form what you can see from that, the house looks quite modern and tidy therefore looks middle class.
The clothing that she is wearing are pyjamas, her hair looks neatly brushed and face looks fresh, meaning that she looks wealthy in her appearance.
As well as the main character (Lois) the mum and dad look middle class also, as they are too dressed well which excepts the stereotype that middle class people dress to a certain degree.

The make-up I used was fake blood, and black eye shadow to create the death look. The costume that I decided to use were just normal,  pyjamas. The reason I dressed her in normal everyday clothing was to make it look more realistic, she wasn't wearing expensive clothing’s so stereotypically looked working class.

Question 1

Sound: 
Some of the sounds that I had used are very sinister. I used interference sounds when the camera started breaking up. I also included a scream which I had edited in later on. At the end of the scene there was a monstrous growl or zombie noise that I had put in. I think this Just gave it that bit more of a horror film effect.

Lighting; 
The lighting that is used is normal artificial lighting at the start of the opening sequence and then through out when it goes blank and then turns back on it is meant to look as though it is in night vision in which i then made the lighting dimmer and look as though it is night time.

Location: 

The location that I have decided will be a house, I came to this conclusion because I feel it looks more realistic. For example when I looked at existing films such as paranormal activity and the conjuring they are filmed in a house to make it look more personal. The house I will be filming in is just an ordinary house, the main room that it’s being filmed in is the bedroom; this makes it seem natural and gives the audience a shock when something bad does happen.

The main room is a child’s bedroom, this already gives it that feel that something bad may happen because stereotypically in horror films the child is mainly the one that is the ‘monster’.

Narrative: All horror films can apply Propp’s theory to the narrative. We see the ‘villain’ and the ‘hero’ also the ‘victim’. Usually the ‘hero’ will spend the film fighting against the evil ‘villain’ and may win. However recently a lot of films such as ‘paranormal activity’ films and ‘sinister’ the ‘hero’ ends up dying. The audience will usually find themselves relating to the ‘hero’.

Todorov’s trinity theory can also be applied to most horror movies as we see the ‘set-up’ that shows us the characters and the scene the film is set. We then see the ‘disruption’ where something occurs that leads to a string of unpleasant events within the narrative. Then we see a ‘resolution’ this is sometimes the evil of the film being defeated or sometimes not really a resolution at all as the main protagonist will die. Some films even make the audience think it is happy ending but will then turn it around and we see nothing has been resolved like in ‘insidious’. It could also go into further detail of ‘the 5 states’ as we almost always see them try and solve the issue, which sometimes doesn’t work. Also in horror films we usually see ‘multiple strands’ within a ‘non-linear structure’. It will sometimes not only have the strand of fighting evil but could include strands of family issues, or relationships within the action which are usually intertwined and interact throughout the film.

Films of the horror genre also commonly use ‘binary opposites’ to create sides that the audience understand, such as good and evil.

THE HOUSE

Extra research

Although My film is in the process of being completed I have decided to research a bit more about the Feminist theories that can help me with my evaluation of my opening sequence and to just boost my knowledge

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Make up and costumes

This is the make-up I used while filming.

I used fake blood, and black eye shadow to create the death look.

The costume that I decided to use were just normal,  pyjamas. The reason I dressed her in normal everyday clothing was to  make it look more realistic. 

Permission of actors

By signing this I am agreeing to act and participate in this media opening sequence and that I am aware that  the product of this will be published onto your blog for people to see. Signed ______________ Dated  ______________

permission for usage

When making my opening sequence I had to get permission to use certain products that I was unable to create myself.  By using this without permission I would be breaking copyright rules.

Getting permission- Royalty free music

filming day 2

In my second day of filming I completed the rest of the filming that I needed which took me a whole day.

I filmed the part when Lois screams and turns into a demon, I did this by holding the camera myself  and then moving it side to side. The camera movements were shaky as they were meant to look like something had just gone past with a force, to create a spooky feel. 

I decided to call it a day once I had done those few shots as it took me 2 hours to complete them.

I had some difficulty filming the bite scene as I didn't know what angle was best, so this took a big chunk out of my timing as I had to take a lot of shots so when it came to my editing I could chose and wouldn't have to struggle with just one shot.

I filmed different angles and sides to my characters and I think this gave the film a good effect.

I ended up changing part of my storyboard just because I thought that it would of looked more interesting, as you will see in my final product.

Filming day 1

On my first day of filming it took place at my house where I, Lois, Joanne and Paul all met up.  The first thing I did was I filmed the main character Lois who was the main protagonist girl; I filmed her as if she was the one holding the camera, so it looked like a home film, I think this was good because it made the film seem much more realistic. This took a few shots to do as I wasn't sure how it would look so therefore I made more than expected of the clips, but I'm glad I did more than needed as a few of the shots I had cut and clipped together. I did a variety of shot types so when I did get to edit my opening sequence together it made the film look smooth and fixed together. 

After I had done these shots I then went on to do the shots of the wind and the ‘demon’ running past the curtains, this just took one wide shot because it was such a simple clip to film, with this shot I made Dylan, my brother get up on the windowsill and push the curtains which gave the effect that a ghost or demon was running past.

Editing day 2 and 3

Editing Day 2 and 3

Over the course of these two sessions that I am completing for editing my final opening sequence, I have continued to order and crop them so they are the way that I want them, as I was editing the clips down I had come up with a few  noises that I had come up with that I thought would be a good idea for the sounds of the screams and interference. 
When it looks like Lois is holding the camera, I added an interference sound as it made the camera look as though it was old fashioned, and I think this gave the opening sequence of the film such a better effect. 
I wanted the sounds to have an eerie sound to show suspense, for example an old video recorder, I liked this type of non-diegetic sounds which I feel will sound really good in my opening sequence, I used the white noise which you normally see on old televisions this gave it a much spookier feel as it looked as though it was crackling and fuzzing. 

I then went on to edit the colour of the film, as I wanted it too look like it was in night vision therefore I had to change the colour of the screen to a green, I thought this turned out well as it made it look as if it was filmed at night which is what I wanted it to be like.

In My third editing session, I mad sure that the continuity of the shot colours were all looking the same and this then helped the audience to understand and know what is happening at what point. 
Finally, I started to add my titles in, adding Production, credits and the film title, I didn't want them to be all just at the end of the opening sequence so I decided that I would spread them over the whole opening sequence finishing with the title at the end. 

Editing Day 1

Editing Day 1

Today I uploaded my footage from my camera to the computers ready for editing, in final cut pro. I wasn't very worried about the quality of the shots as the camera I used has always given excellent footage as you can see that in my preliminary task, which makes it look professional and clear.

After I had uploaded my shots I then had to decide which ones I was going to use in the final product this took a while considering how many retakes I had taken. I then started to put the clips into final cut pro in there correct order for the film.

I felt I was confident with using the computer and editing features which I had done in previous filming, the next editing session, I will continue to edit the clips, cutting them down and ordering them in there correct places.

I also had a few ideas to make the filming of the opening sequence look more sinister and eerie, the transitions that I decided to use made the opening sequence look horrified. 

production schedule

This is my production schedule which will help me with my timing.

Storyboard

During the planning of my opening sequence, I decided that a storyboard would be the best method of planning my opening sequence. 

Below is my Storyboard.

Location decisions

The location that I have decided will be a house, I came to this conclusion because I feel it looks more realistic. For example when I looked at existing films such as paranormal activity and the conjuring they are filmed in a house to make it look more personal. The house I will be filming in is just an ordinary house, the main room that it’s being filmed in is the bedroom; this makes it seem natural and gives the audience a shock when something bad does happen.

The main room is a child’s bedroom, this already gives it that feel that something bad may happen because stereotypically in horror films the child is mainly the one that is the ‘monster’.

From a lot of my research into excisting horror films most of the key concepts are that they are filmed in paranormal/haunted houses. Thats why I feel that filming in a house gives it that extra scare factor that is needed.

The Locaiton was only set in one room, I felt that this made it seem more realistic due to the fact that it was a home camera filming where the main character was doing a volg. Its set only in her bedroom as that is where you would mainly do a vlog, so I felt by doing this it would make the whole film seem more real for the audience to watch.

Deciding on a title

Feedback from peers

I know how important it is to get a bit of feedback from my target audience and with that I decided to ask a couple of the audience to look at my storyboard and watch my opening sequence and to give me feedback on what they liked, how I can improve so I can then make adjustments to make It suit my audience more.

Overall it was positive feedback. They liked the way the camera looked as though it was filmed by them as a home camera and how the shaking of the camera happened when Lois ‘turned’ into a demon. However, they didn’t give me any negative feedback but gave me ways in which I could improve, they said that it would look good if I added some interference screens when the interference sound happens, I thought this was a good idea and would definitely try it out. Also they said that I could put a recording logo in the corner of the film, so it looked like it was being filmed on a home recorder.  

Distribution- Lionsgate

It is a Canadian American company that was formed in Vancouver, British Columbaria on the 3^rd July 1997.
 From the November 2013 it is the most commercially successful mini major film distribution company in North America. They are a film company that makes, produce and distributes horror film.

Some Films they've created including: The last exorcism, Asylum, the last house in the woods and the cabin in the woods.

Protagonist and antagonist representation

I've looked into protagonist types of characters and what there costumes were and why this was effective towards the audience. i focused on two thriller/horror genres to see what sort of clothing and connotations of these particular clothing's were used, i found that the characters outfits depend on what genre they are from.

Psychological Horror

I have noticed that the characters from these type of psychological films for example paranormal activity, they are all wearing fairly 'normal' everyday clothing. i think the reason for this is because it makes the film seem more realistic and makes the audience feel as though it could happen to them because it shows that they are wearing similar clothes as the audience.

The antagonist character in these types of films are usually seen as a evil figure such as the Sinister films. These characters generally wear quite dark, old fashioned this could suggest that they have a sense of evil in them.

The Final Girl

I have done some research into the final girl, the final girl shows innocence within their character and costumes, they show purity. The protagonist characters appearances are quite pure for example their make up is pale, rosy cheeks this connotes innocence, the reason for having hardly any make up on suggests that the audience can see clearly the girls facial expressions and emotions on her faces.

Fonts

Fonts

Font 1: I liked the use of this font as it was thin, but dark, I think it looked very constant and worked well with the film’s opening sequence. It was all capitals and I felt that it gave it that extra kick to seem quite spooky, this was one of my favourites.

Font 2: This one was a bit older fashioned as it looked like an old type writer, I thought this was quite a nice font as it gave a quirky look, adding a bit of crime.

Font 3: This font is good because it is a contrast between the colours, it gives a dull mood and makes it seem more sinister and I also think this would work well in my opening sequence.