Evaluation Question Seven

The two clips above are of my final hand in task "Who Is Out There" and my first prelim task "An Average Fight Over A Girl". the latter i produced a good few months ago, and the final hand in film a few weeks ago.

The prelim simply had two friends, or it seems, verbally arguing over a girl, a typical teenage activity, ending violently. The main task is about a man running through a woods being chased by a mysterious and intimidating woman, he reaches a river, where he begs for help into the distance, she then kills him, a small dialogue of the girl and her other personality occurs, and then it finishes with a title screen.

The prelim task was obviously less of quality to the main task, due to the amount of time I have been able to work on editing, and filming. For example, the editing pace of the prelim task is less professional than the other piece, the final scene where the tall blonde man punches the other, is too quick, and seems more sloppy. It could have been different if i had re filmed it, but because of the deadline i did not have the chance. However, I am quite happy with the editing and filming for the Main task, it all fits together, i believe that the running scene was done very professionally.

Also, one area that could have been improved of the Prelim task, is it could have added some music or backing noise. I did not have the know how to be able to do it, however with the the Main task i have been able to add some low beat non diegetic music, as well as a make shift heart beat. Had i been able to do so on the prelim task, i would of had a low slow beat as the blonde man walked into the room.

What I did like about the Prelim was the fading out towards the ending, and the difference in dialogue. These two aspects were also improved in the Main task with the fading in and out of titles, and the fading out of the clip, and the dialogue was just as good.

These are the differences between my Prelim task and my Main task. Originally I was impressed with my Prelim task, but from the skills I obtained from the Main task, i realize it could of been improved with the points mentioned above.

Evaluation Question Six

 Many different pieces of software have helped me through this
coursework. the following are screen shots are of me using the separate software's. the first is Final Cut Express, what i used for the sole creation of my filming, only available for IMac which did become a nussance as i do not own one and couldnt work on it at home, but was not to much of a problem as i had plenty of lesson time to work on it.

 The second is of GarageBand, another piece of software only available for IMacs. This software allowed me to create the backing, non diegetic music and the sound of the heart beats.

 Thirdly, i used Photo shop, the only actual software i used which was compatible with other computers. This allowed me to create the logos for "A Head In The Hole Productions" and "Race Productions".

 I used Prezi.com on the internet in order to create detailed, and stylish presentations, alowing me to quickly import videos and pictures in my blog.

Fourthly i used Youtube in order to find a video to compare my own film to - Dog Soldiers- and to put up my own film in order to import that onto a prezi.
Finally i used Blogger itself in order to put up all my work online so i could access it from home in a neat manner, and so i would never lose it. The pictures below are of me using the IMacs to piece together my coursework film. I learned a lot about how to use IMacs through this coursework, as i had never used one before. i now find them the most easy to use computers available, and made making my coursework easy.

Evaluation Question Five

Throughout this coursework, i have been comparing my own work to that of the opening of Dog Soldiers.
I have tried to keep to the same sort of genre and filming style to that of Dog Soldiers. However only being able to film with a medium quality camera as opposed to the industry level ones used in Dog Soldiers, it has played in my favor,  with the quality of camera it has made the scenery seem more bleak and grey than in reality, however, this greyness has been able to add to the tension building by having quite a plain backdrop to make the audience more focused on the characters.
Also, there is only a small amount of non diegetic music in the background, where this does not feature in Dog Soldiers, as the film only uses diegetic sound in order to add to the realism intended, my film has it in to add to the tension and building up to the final scene. The reason i have it in and Dog Soldiers does not, is because my film starts of fast paced, from the very first scene it literally starts of running, whereas Dog Soldiers begins with a equilibrium.

My very first rough cut, as seen earlier on in the blog, was much simpler to my final hand in. For one, it had a different actor, and after careful deliberation replaced him for the current one. However the major points are in the making of the film. For one, i used a completely different scene for the final shot, mainly because in the rough cut, a road and van could be seen in the background of the final dramatic scene, so i had to move further up river to a point where you couldnt see them, however this played in my favor, as where i decided to film had ice next to the water, which could represent the harsh and coldness of the main antagonist's feelings towards to brief protagonist. I also changed the dialogue to make the final scene more dramatic, as originally, it was a simple murder, no dialogue at all, however in the final hand in, i allowed time that had been taken from the running scene (that in itself was too long for the two minute limit) so that i could create more tension for the protagonist's final moments. These where the main and most crucial changes I made to my film, other changes include different shots angles and locations for the running scene, and the changes in clothing to make the protagonist more likeable and the antagonist more intimidating.

The following are some questions that I asked several different people of what they thought of my film. The questions were:

1) What draws your attention to the product?
2) What genre is it and how do you know?
3) What do you consider are the strengths of the product?
4) What social groups does it represent and how?
5) Would you purchase the product and why?
6) How would you improve the product?

The first person I asked was Kyle Bridson, a first year media student also doing the film section of this coursework. He was asked for his opinion as he is the perfect critic for this piece of work, not only is he doing the same section of the coursework but we have also both been studying the same subject at the same time, so he knows the best responses to the questions, in theory. This was his response;

The second person I asked was Jayne Race, a middle age mother with no knowledge of media or of how films are made, she was asked these questions for the reasons of her being the typical audience, with my film being aimed at both genders, either can enjoy it as long as they have a enthusiasm for horror. This was her response;

The third person I asked was Zoë Godden, a fifteen year old girl with basic knowledge of media and how films films are made, she was asked these questions as she is at the younger end of the target audience. This was her response;

The fourth and final person I asked was Wayne Longton Worley, a IT technician at Teesdale School, and also a film maker, in his spare time. He was asked his opinion on the questions asked because of his knowledge of all things electronic, and his passion in film that I share. This was his response;

Evaluation Question Four

Evaluation Question Three

The Production Process:
Producing my footage would have to have gone through several different stages to be official, including the Production phase and the Distribution phase. These two stages happen in 5 main parts:
-The Planning phase, where you think of ideas, what will the final product look like, genre, audience and content
-Research phase, where you look at current oppositions and what is already on the market and how similar they are to your idea, and then change in accordance to the results, and who their target audience is
-The Story board phase, where you create story boards in order to have a visual aid to be able to see what the product will look like
-The Construction phase, this is where you create the product to meet that of an industrial size, going out to locations and shooting
-The Distribution phase, where you pitch the product to either a niche or mainstream audience, depending on the design of the product, and if it is commercial or independent

Publishing - Throughout my work, I have been comparing my own work to that of Dog Soldiers, as they are both horror and I based most of the camera skills and techniques on the footage from Dog Soldiers (see Evaluation Question One), I think that the best company to publish my film would be the The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company. The reason being that they appear to focus, or at least have an interest in horror or high in action films, not only did they publish Dog Soldiers, but they also covered Trainspotting and Pasty Faces.

Distribution - For the distribution side of the product, I would suggest the Luxembourg Film Fund. The reason being that they distributed Dog Soldiers across the world. They also appear to look into horror and action related films such as Minotaur and The Lost Battalion. These films are not particularly well known, and Minotaur is directed by an English director, this is another reason why I would chose the Luxembourg Film Fund, as they focus on small budget films from not very well know directors, and it takes on English directors also.

Advertisement - For the advertisement section, I would probably use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The reason being that it can be free to advertise on these sites, also the word of mouth technique has been recently adapted to the 21st Century, and to Web 2.0, with people talking to each other, news can be spread on social networking sites almost as quick as using billboards on commonly used motorways.

Distributing- For distributing, I would most likely use big name franchises such as HMV and Blockbuster. The reason being that these big name franchises can afford to take a risk in taking on small name films such as my own. They are also known for distributing a wide range of products, and getting in with the big franchises could not only help distribute it, but the general public knowing that my product is distributed by big names could help advertise it as well.
 

Evaluation Question Two

Evaluation Question One

Completely Finished Movie - Who Is Out There

Screen Shots

Here are a few shots of me creating the coursework.

Construction of Logo Part 2

This is the other logo that i have created. With my last name being Race i took this into consideration and created 'Race Productions' as seen in the title of the logo. This was my first attempt.

Construction of Logo

These are the first few shots of what I have decided to use for my main logo:

The second appears more professional due to the different colours, however the font appears a bit amateur, so that will be the next thing to be changed.

This is the final copy of my logo. I have changed the difference between black background and the image, and also changed the text to the same colour of the background in the picture.

Animatics storyboard

This is my animatics storyboard. A collection of the story board pictures i have drawn for the current project. it will partially tell the story of which i will shoot soon. This helps me in order to know what shots i might need, what angles, etc.
enjoy.

Primary Research

I conducted primary audience research in order to:
- To find out what appeals to my target audience
- To discover any flaws or potential improvements that could be made to my film genre
- To identify gaps in the market, and place a refreshing new twist on the genre.

that is the film i have researched - Dog Soldiers, 0:00 to 1:20

This is the chosen product i researched.
These are the questions i asked:

1- how do you think the background sound helped the first few shots?
2- What do you think of the locations?
3- In the first few shots, can you identify the genre type?
4- How do you feel when you watch it?
5- What three things could improve this sequence?
6- What do you feel about the choice of costume?

Two questions were given to three different people. This is their answers;

Shooting Schedule

Risk and Hazard Assessment

Reece for Locations

Model Release Forms - Amy Woods and Oli Wellham

Research into Logos

This is the main Logo for Pathé. I studied Pathé in an earlier blog as it distributed a film that i was researching - Dog Soldiers. What i think is most important about this logo is that it is obvious what the company is called. Also, with Pathé mainly covering kids films such as the new Muppets film, it is obviously shown, with its usage of bright colours such as the yellow of "Pathé" and the lighting in the background.
This helps me as seen as i am doing a horror genre, i should change it to make the background darker to reflect the darker genre.

Sketch of first Logo in Photoshop

This is my first idea for a logo. I have been planning on using this image and name for a while now, and the only thing that i would probably change is the background being changed to black instead of a pale shade.

Costume and Props

Throughout the film that i have made, there will only be two characters, and virtually no props.
The first of my characters is Victoria Taylor, played by Amy Woods, the what appears to be the main antagonist. she wears black ugg boots, blue jeans and a black hoodie. he reason she wears his is because i wanted her to seem as dark as possible - black clothing etc- but also still being able to be recognized as a normal teenage girl - the jeans. she wears the hood up so that it covers her face, this is so that we cant truly see what she looks like until the final scene. doing this allows us to reserve the ability of the viewer of being able to know the characters, this can seem relatively scary for some. she also wears black gloves, the reason being so that we can see as little of her skin as possible, this enables her to still be completely black besides the colour of her face, hence causing more mystery to her.
The other character is James Hamilton, played by Oli Wellham, this character wears a purple hoodie, jeans, and a white jumper. the reason i picked these sets of clothing is because the viewer - with the main target audience being teenagers to early twenties - can easily relate to him with the jeans and hoodie. the white jumper is there for a usage of the stereotypical black vs white, darkness vs light, good vs evil, but in this case the bad side wins. he wears his hood down for the majority so that we can see his face completely, allowing us to sympathies with him, as he flees from his attacker.

the usage of these sets of clothing is mainly so that the viewer can distinguish which side they should be connecting with, and also so that the can also feel the fear that James feels as he tries to escape from his attacker, Victoria. 

Background Music for the Film

this is the first idea i had for background music in the film. the music is entirely original, and the plan is for it to go through the first few scenes, most likely up until the hiding scene, where one of the characters comes of the track and onto the beach;

These are some screen shots of me using Garage Band in order to create another backing track:

Image anaylsis and Composition

In this post i will be comparing two images from two different films. The first is;

In this image we see a long establishing shot of some lovely fields in the mid day sun. the origins of this picture are unsure to me, but at a guess i would say that it could of been a shot unused in The Lord of the Rings, looking down on Hobbiton. anyway, in this shot the background does show fields expanding along the horizon. the usage of this shot and the light reflecting upon the fields makes the background look almost magical, and better yet, a place people would want to visit, for its picturesque surroundings. however, in the foreground we see a dead tree, which is in the upper third of the shot, and far to the left. this could show that not all is as it seems, and that there is something more eerie hidden among this beautiful landscape. Also with it being in the far left, all attention should automatically go to it, again relating to the feeling that all is not as it seems.

This second shot is from the film Black Swan. in this shot we the main character looking into a broken mirror. the resemblance of the broken mirror shows that there is a horror lurking within the beauty of the main character, with her beautiful make up and pretty dress. also, she is looking straight at the camera (through the mirror) it allows us to see the stress she is actually going through her mind, underneath her false sense of beauty. Also the lighting only shines from one side, making one side seeming beautiful, and the other, darker, a hint at dual personality perhaps.

This anaylsis of these two shots have allowed me to look at my own shots and make a few changes. for example, in the crucial scene with the only bit of dialogue, i will make my character be looking down through the dialogue, until the final line where she will say the devastating line before skipping off. this will add to dramatic effect, as looking into someones eyes can be seen as looking straight into their souls, and restricting this ability makes her seem more mysterious and dangerous.

Peer Assessments and Improvements

The peers i have asked said the following about my film;

-the different usage of shots was a good way to show the fear of the main character
-the usage of the lower placed shot angled up as the murderer appears is a good way for the audience to feel the same fear as the other character
-POV shots allow the viewer to see the reaction of the male as his murderer approaches
-the high pace of cross cutting - the quick changes- allow the viewer to see that it is a high paced film and with there being short shots, the adrenaline from the characters affects the viewer and also makes them feel scared.

Improvements;
I have been told by my peers that what is lacking in my film is titles, of director/ producer/ writer/ actors. i have now put those into action and placed them throughout the shots, you can see this is you refer to my last post. Also, seen as i had not finished filming when i put up the moving image storyboard, so i was not able to show the last two scenes. these last two scenes explain the story a bit better, and also shows the title and producer. Also, i have yet to include sound, such as a low beat progressing getting closer with the character. These improvements made should put me up to Band 4.

Improvements on Written Storyboards - Refer to Moving Storyboard for Greater Detail

These are the improvements i have made to my story board, improvements include titles and further explanations;

those that are side by side are in the same shot, for example the camera pans to the right, or zooms in etc. those underneath are the next cross cut. there is one that is at an angle, the reason being that it is all one long shot and would not fit on the scanner completely horizontal

Moving Story Board (First Rough Cut)

This is my first rough cut of the film I will be creating. I have had to cut it down and it isnt finished yet. I still need one more scene to film, and probably filmed again with a tripod, but this is the first try. enjoy.

Secondary Audience

Throughout my film, there would be violence, blood, swearing and more violence, for these reasons i would give this film, officially, an 18 rating, therefore, it is more focused on 18year old's to maybe late 40's. However, with the characters being late teens, it would also be easier for a 16 year old to connect with the characters, so regardless of the age rating, the perfect audience would be 16 to 47, about.
it would also be mainly focused to connect with both male and the more horror fan female, as there is the obvious blood and gore for the male, but later on more females would be brought into the story, and seen as the main antagonist is a female, women would be able to connect with her more, so it is focused on both men and women, but more focused on men, as stereotypically, men can take more blood - decapitation, amputation, guts spilled onto floor, the normal for a slasher horror film - and gore than the average woman.

Distribution Insitutions Research

One of the films i have been researching is Dog Soldiers, directed and written by Neil Marshall, who also made Hellraiser. Dog Soldiers was wrote, directed and filmed in England, mostly in Scotland.
The company that distributes Dog Soldiers is Pathé. Pathé is also known for distributing Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and more recently, The Iron Lady, so pretty high leveled, high quality films with large directors.
As well as these films, Pathé also covers several different types of genre, from family animation, to action, from comedy to even french films, but the genre I'm more concerned with is the horror genre they create. This is why i think that Pathé would distribute my film, as they cover many different genres including horror, as my film is a cross between horror, slasher, and partially comedy, of the more dark variety.
However, it is more likely that Pathé would not distribute my film as most of its films come from quite famous directors, and with mine being a simple college film, it is unlikely to get a foot in the door of Pathé's interests

filming ideas

In this post i will put forth my ideas for the film opening i will be creating. they are as follows;

Fades from black to production logo - A Head In The Hole Production (own) and then director, fades to black (10sec)
fades from black to a long establishing shot of a peaceful wood. Birds tweeting in background (8sec)
Feet runs past camera and down path, camera pans to follow (5secs)
C/c to a free camera shot from in front of her running at same pace backwards (4secs)
C/c to high angle shot of her running, inside, up a bank, looking down. 20metres distance (6secs)
C/c to her eyes looking panicked, over the shoulder, looking back (2secs)
C/c to running behind her getting closer (4secs)
she falls, camera in front a few meters away (1 sec)
she looks back as a reaction shot (1 sec)
low angle shot of her on floor looking at attacker, foot steps in front of camera, halving screen, she screams (5secs)
blood splatters to ground (paint - optional) hand falls dramatically into it (5 secs)
C/c to bottom of legs, pans up to contorted evil face, edited to make eyes black, takes gasp of breath and blackness disappears (optional) confused how he got there, sees body, says dialogue to the effect of "not again, you should really control yourself" another gasp, goes back to blackness (again optional) says in darker and playful voice "but its so fun" walks off whistling (26 secs max)
fades to black (2sec)
fades from black to old man sat on a bench in peaceful park, reading newspaper, front headline says "Bipolar killer escapes local nut house" (10secs)
C/c to peaceful wood, establishing shot, maniacal laugh (5secs)
fades to black (2secs)
name of film appears, then turns to blood and drips down and off screen, long low toning beat comes in (15 secs)
film length - 1:51 mins
film name ideas - "Wrong Expectations" "Who is out there" "dont listen" "inside me here lies, what?"

Research into Similar Products

Film or Print Breif

In this piece of coursework I will be writing, directing and editing a opening scene to a film that I have created.I will be doing two tasks - a prelim task and main task. the main task involves the film I will be creating, the titles and opening scene of a new fiction film, with a maximum of being two minutes long. The prelim task involves a continuity task demonstrating match on action, shot/ reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule. My opening scene for the main task, is based on some ideas from the opening scene from Silence of the Lambs, however the main plot is entirely different. There are also a few ideas taken from Dog Soldiers, with it being in a big English wood, no body else around, and something being out there, but not sure what. Also, some of the camera work, especially the close up shots are taken from ideas from Falling Down. All the rest of the film, was entirely original.

Call Sheets - Amy Woods and Oli Wellham

I havent had the chance to upload an image with these, but once i have the chance, they will be uploaded.