Douglas Horton
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Movie Poster
The poster was made like this because of our genre of our movie, the darkness represents the film noir aspect of the film and the text is blood because of the murder sense, it all works extremely well together. We felt it was important to put the killer's mask in because it is practically the main part of our film and the poster shows this. It also is intriguing because it immediately causes the person reading the poster to ask questions like who is that ? And what are they doing? It is perfect for what we wanted it for, to create questions and show what type of film we have made.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Update on progress
We have now filmed our entire media project, and are currently in the process of editing the shots together. All of the shots flow well together at the moment, and the editing is going smoothly. We are having no issues with the program we are using or our shots, so we believe that we have done very well on this task.
We plan to dim some of the shots because we recorded them at the wrong time of day, there isn't a lot of light in the shot, but on our storyboard we said that we would prefer it if the shots were dim and dark to add to the scariness and fear of the viewer. Also it adds a certain pathetic fallacy because darkness reflects certain movies like Se7en which is done in a film noir style and is notably dark throughout, Se7en is a murder mystery, the same as An Eye for an Eye and would love the settings of their professional movie to come out in ours to add that little more effect to the shots and action in the film.
We are still unsure about the music we are going to use, but it likely that we will use Music Junkies and the theme tune to The Bourne Identity by John Powell we will use track 6 (linked below)The Bourne Identity - Escape From Embassy. We feel these are both perfect because they suit the thriller genre well and The Bourne Series is a thriller set of films. It gives a great build up to the real action of the first two minutes of the film, the music gets more intense just as our film does, so it reflects our filming well. Also the music adds to the mystery of the killer, which is very beneficial to our project. The tempo increase of the music works very well.
We want our CCTV shot to be silent because it gives a certain eeriness to the clip, the fact that you cannot hear what is going on makes it much different to the shot with the sound of the attacks, it makes it more of a mystery and that much more scary. In the best case scenario we would also like the shot to have a time displaying in one of the corners so it gives the viewer a sense of what sort of time the murder took place so they know after initially setting the scene for themselves in the chase.
We also felt that the audio for our detective scene wasn't how we wanted it to be, the wind muffled our actors voices,also it will help our experience to try and implement a voice over on this scene. We feel it will make the shot look much better and it will be a lot more clear what the detectives are saying, thus making our film better and adding to the feeling of mystery.
All together we still have quite a few things to do there is a little more editing needed on the shots, the dimming etc but the music is perfectly and the cutting is almost done so we are well on our way to having a finished movie.
We plan to dim some of the shots because we recorded them at the wrong time of day, there isn't a lot of light in the shot, but on our storyboard we said that we would prefer it if the shots were dim and dark to add to the scariness and fear of the viewer. Also it adds a certain pathetic fallacy because darkness reflects certain movies like Se7en which is done in a film noir style and is notably dark throughout, Se7en is a murder mystery, the same as An Eye for an Eye and would love the settings of their professional movie to come out in ours to add that little more effect to the shots and action in the film.
We are still unsure about the music we are going to use, but it likely that we will use Music Junkies and the theme tune to The Bourne Identity by John Powell we will use track 6 (linked below)The Bourne Identity - Escape From Embassy. We feel these are both perfect because they suit the thriller genre well and The Bourne Series is a thriller set of films. It gives a great build up to the real action of the first two minutes of the film, the music gets more intense just as our film does, so it reflects our filming well. Also the music adds to the mystery of the killer, which is very beneficial to our project. The tempo increase of the music works very well.
We want our CCTV shot to be silent because it gives a certain eeriness to the clip, the fact that you cannot hear what is going on makes it much different to the shot with the sound of the attacks, it makes it more of a mystery and that much more scary. In the best case scenario we would also like the shot to have a time displaying in one of the corners so it gives the viewer a sense of what sort of time the murder took place so they know after initially setting the scene for themselves in the chase.
We also felt that the audio for our detective scene wasn't how we wanted it to be, the wind muffled our actors voices,also it will help our experience to try and implement a voice over on this scene. We feel it will make the shot look much better and it will be a lot more clear what the detectives are saying, thus making our film better and adding to the feeling of mystery.
All together we still have quite a few things to do there is a little more editing needed on the shots, the dimming etc but the music is perfectly and the cutting is almost done so we are well on our way to having a finished movie.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Preliminary Task Evaluation
We were given the task to create a short film using various techniques, shots and professional editing for our preliminary and given the chance to decide which scenario we would like to pick out of three pre-made scripts. We chose the ‘phone’ scenario which interested us because of the suspense given off by the scripts linked well with our own idea of the main film opening we will produce.
We began by creating our own story board of the scenario plotting in various shot types and angles, this gave us the opportunity to play around with these shot types and find ways to express that suspense we know can be achieved from this scenario. Once we had created the storyboard, we had to find suitable actors that were free in that lesson and up for starring in the movie clip. This turned out to be one of us in Harry Warner and Dan Perrins, who was both eager and desperate to partake in the movie clip. Now although they weren’t the best of actors, it was only the preliminary task and this would give us a good understanding of how good our actors should be in the real film judging on how badly or good the preliminary task turns out to be.
Our opening did not include opening credits or production/company logos which will be needed in the main film. Aside from that the first shot of a close up is how most films begin, it builds up a beginning and doesn’t confuse the viewer for they are just concentrating on one object, whereas if we were to start with an establishing shot it will be more confusing for the viewer. This is why we started with a close up of a phone that is ringing. Then the next shot was one taken a bit further away from the object, allowing the viewer to slowly establish the surroundings without confusion as well as focusing on the object which in this case is the phone. The next shot was a big close up of the phone once more but up against the characters ear, which is when the first piece of dialogue came in “He’s here… got it?… yep… okay… bye…” at which point the shot finished and the next shot of the character placing the phone on the table and turning to the other character in the room with him began, we chose to go with a two shot for this part as it establishes that they are in the same room and is always the beginning of a conversation. During that shot the other character says “is it sorted” which automatically gets the viewer engaged and asking questions like ‘what is sorted?’. The next shot was the beginning of a series of over shoulder shots to carry on the conversation; however we forgot one of the most important rules of them all which was the 180 degree rule. We managed to film the wrong side of both shoulders of the characters which confuses the viewer and must always be avoided. The movie clip ends with an extreme shot of the characters lips Saying the words “you’ll see” which leaves it on a cliff hanger and builds the suspense.
We edited our movie on final cut express because according to our sources it is the one most professionals use and it seemed fairly easy to get around and edit our movie. Once we had inserted each clip we began to cut each one to make them shorter and flow more smoothly. This was very easy to do on final cut. Once we had cut all the shot individually we then added a soundtrack in the background quietly. We chose a tense and slow tune to fit the suspense of the movie clip. Once we added that, we rendered everything and posted it on YouTube for all to view.
Our editing went well and better than we thought it would be, making great progress quickly and finishing the task within the allocated time we were given as guidelines. This enabled us to create something that was not very high quality into something worth watching as the editing made the film more viewable. As well as the editing, we also got the choice of shot type’s right because it built the suspense and fitted the dialogue very well. The added music was also a good choice as it made the film less empty than it was before, and it was also a good choice of music as it also fitted the genre and dialogue of the movie clip very well.
However, there were many faults in the production of this movie clip which included: the 180 degree rule failed, bad acting, unstable shots (camera wouldn’t hold still) and the lack of control over the actors for they were never in a professional frame of mind. This can be avoided by: revising all the rules of editing in media, pick carefully the actors and make sure you view there acting before hand, bring along a tripod and make sure the actors/actresses are well disciplined or be patient and wait for the perfect shot before rushing into it and moving onto the next shot. Thanks to these faults in our preliminary we can now learn from these mistakes and improve upon them and apply these solutions to the problems we faced to our film opening for our official assessment.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)
Suitable for all. It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror. If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.
Requires parental guidanceGeneral viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children. 
Suitable for 12 years and over. Exactly the same criteria are used to classify works at ‘12A’ and ‘12’. These categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those aged 12 and over. Works classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or contain material which many parents will find unsuitable for them.
The ‘12A’ category exists only for cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult, and films classified ‘12A’ are not recommended for a child below 12. An adult may take a younger child if, in their judgement, the film is suitable for that particular child. In such circumstances, responsibility for allowing a child under 12 to view lies with the accompanying adult.The ‘12’ category exists only for video works. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video work.
Suitable only for 15 and over. No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
Suitable only for adults. No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video work.
Target Audience
To classify a film we looked at the bbfc website to see how the measure the age requirement of a film. From this we decided that our film would be a 15 as it has a certain amount of violence and blood involved in it. There are many guidelines on how to define a movie as a 15 (these are taken from the bbfc website):
Examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work (eg how it makes the audience feel) and even the release format (for example, as DVDs are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of underage viewing) - Taken from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/ as a definition on how to classify a film. When we did this we took into account all of the above reasons for making it a 15 and decided that we made a film that perfectly fit the requirements of a thriller/horror age 15 film. We want our film to be aimed at those of around 15-25 as that is the age where most people seek thrills and look for films that give out a sense of fear and excitement.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
All of the above definitions were taken from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2/
Our film does not go over the boundaries that are set, we have no bad language in our film so language is not an issue. No drugs or discrimination takes place and there is no sex. For horror there is only a bit of blood shown on screen and is not enough to class as a horror film, so this goes into this class, to an extent the behaviour is imitable, but if people imitated it it would be irrational, and there isn't a large clip of the killing or real life weapons. Our theme is thriller and there are a few other 15 thrillers that come to my mind like paranormal activity and the blair witch project, they are both 15s because they are practically psychological, playing with the audience's mind. In the killing scene we do not dwell on the killing of the victim, they are killed and dragged of screen quickly so it would be fine as a 15.
Examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work (eg how it makes the audience feel) and even the release format (for example, as DVDs are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of underage viewing) - Taken from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/ as a definition on how to classify a film. When we did this we took into account all of the above reasons for making it a 15 and decided that we made a film that perfectly fit the requirements of a thriller/horror age 15 film. We want our film to be aimed at those of around 15-25 as that is the age where most people seek thrills and look for films that give out a sense of fear and excitement.
Filming Schedule
| Date of filming | Time of filming | Who is needed | Equipment needed | Which shots |
| 3/12/11 | 1400 | Brad Wescombe Rhys Harries Harry Warner Lawrence PB | Camera Character clothing Police Tape Tripod | 34. |
| 3/12/11 | 1500-1630 | Harry Warner Matthew Wetton Lawrence PB | Camera Character clothing Mask Knife Tripod | 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 20, 26. |
| 14/1/12 | 1430-1600 | Harry Warner Matthew Wetton Lawrence PB | Camera Tripod Character clothing Mask Knife | 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 30, 32. |
| 14/1/12 | 1630-1700 | Harry Warner Matthew Wetton Lawrence PB | Camera Tripod Character clothing Mask Knifes Fake blood White T-shirt | 9, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, |
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