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Evaluation

Main Task Evaluation on Prezi

Production: Opening sequence

Here is our finished opening sequence, enjoy

Production: Editing

All-together it took us about 2 weeks to complete the editing process. This was due to us changing various elements of the opening's layout etc.
We decided to cut out the parts that we added in (shown in a previous post) and simplify the way in which the film runs, as we thought that too much happens in the opening. We finally edited the film opening so that it tells less of a narrative structure however, in our opinion, worked better and was more effective.

We only needed to film a few more shots which we would then add on to some of the other shots we had previously used. The use of several titles were also an effective way of improving the intensity of the opening sequence.

When we had finished filming the new shots, we used Adobe On Location again to firstly capture them off the tape. Once this had been achieved, we could import them into Adobe Premiere so that they could be edited and ordered properly.



This programme allowed us to do lots of things to our shots to make the opening more entertaining and effective.

Firstly, it let us split up the sound from each of the separate clips. This came in handy because we wanted a sound to be 'repeated' throughout the duration of the opening sequence - but without the camera noise in the way; therefore we deleted the sound off each clip and replaced it with a sample of some heavy breathing that we had filmed previously.

Also, Premiere allowed us to add video and audio effects/transitions to our shots. We used a lot of cross fade on the audio so that the sound ran more smoothly throughout the video (so it wouldnt quickly cut out). In addition to this we used some video transitions on the final title of the sequence. We added a 'fade' effect which the title more of an eerie feel to it, making it more believeable.

Titles also play a big part in our opening sequence. We used them to display actors names, production companies (which we made up) and the title of the film. Not only this, but we were able to find a relevant font type specific to our genre which we thought worked simply, but well. It also gave us many other options such as height,width and positioning of the text.



Above is our final title which shows the name of the film. We went for a simple layout as was mentioned before because we felt that it added to the intensity of the opening sequence.

Overall, I think that Premiere was very good at aiding us in completing the task as it allowed us to play around with effects and gave us some ideas as to what could be done to the audio/visuals on some shots.

Updates:location

With the new shots that we added we needed a second location to film them to show that they are at different periods of time in the story. We decided to film these shots at Worcester Woods Countryside Centre because we felt this was relevant to what was happening in the sequence.

Updates:filming

Thursday 13th January 2011:

We decided that our film opening did not give enough of an idea of what the main character is like or why he is bein followed, therefore we decided to add some more shots in which will be placed at the beginning of the film to create more of a narrative structure.

We also took on board some of the feedback that we were given and have also included a POV shot of the mysterious figure in the bushes. We felt that this would help to create more tension in the opening and ultimately make it more scary.

For the new opening shots, we also included a new actor:

Role	Who?	Photo
Innocent Little Boy	Jake Walden

Production:filming

5th January 2011:

We first attempted filming on the 5th January 2011. We went to our location with our actors, however it was too dark for the camera to capture anything. This meant we had to postpone filming to the 7th January; a time when both of the actors were next available.

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7th January 2011:

All of the filming was done on this day and it took us about an hour to finish it. Filming went relatively smoothly with only a couple of shots taking more than one take. We decided to capture Shot 13 in various ways so that we could choose which method of filming we thought was best/most effective.

We did not shoot each shot entirely in order however. The order we did them in is below (Refer to Shot List blog post for description of each shot):

1. Shot 1 
2. Shot 6
3. Shot 7
4. Shot 8
5. Shot 9
6. Shot 10
7. Shot 11
8. Shot 12
9. Shot 13
10. Shot 14
11. Shot 15
12. Shot 16
13. Shot 17
14. Shot 3
15. Shot 5
16. Shot 18

*Shots 2 and 4 will be put in when we come to editing.

Organisation: Props/costume

We will not be using any props in our film opening. This is because we did not think that they were necessary for the project.

The costumes in our film will consist of everyday clothing that is typically associated with teenage boys. One of the characters you do not get to see much of anyway therefore his costume will also be like this. We did not feel that we needed any other costumes for the cast.

Audience research: Updates

I uploaded our animatic to our focus group on Facebook and got some feedback from not only people of a similar age to us, but also in the 30-40 age range.

Here is what 2 of our friends (Alex White and Rory Bailey) said about our animatic:


Sarah Moody represented the opposite end of our target audience age range. Here is what she had to say about the animatic:


We have taken this feedback on board and plan to make some changes to our project when we come to filming. We may choose to add some shots in to answer questions about the characters etc. or get some POV shots to help build tension in the opening.

Organisation: casting

The two characters who are in our film opening, the innocent person who gets followed and the stalker who does the following, are being played by Rory Bailey and Chris Hasell respectively. We have chosen these people for our opening because we believe they are reliable and suit the roles well.

                                               Rory Bailey                                        Chris Hasell

Cast meeting held on: 17/12/10;

Attended by: Miles Hardman, Connor Harris, Chris Hasell and Rory Bailey;

Key decisions and action points: Decided who would be playing which character and where would be a suitable location for filming.

Organisation: Location

For our media project we have chosen to film in Nunnery Woods. We felt that this will create the desired atmosphere. As this is a public wood, permission was not required. It was also a big advantage that it is very close to our college meaning hat we would need to travel far.

Risk assessment

Potential Danger	Potential outcomes	Actions to avoid potential outcomes	Further comments
Tripping over roots	Serious injury,	Watch out for roots on the floor.
Tripping over Tripod/Camera box	Injury to person, breaking of the camera	Don't leave to camera box/tripod lying around.	Me miles will be in charge of making sure all equipment is out of the way so that is is not a hazard to anyone.
Walking/running into tree	Injury	Be aware of where trees are and plan actions accordingly
Slipping over wet /muddy surfaces	Hitting your head on the floor.Getting muddy	Avoid filming in muddy areas.

 
Above is our risk assessment for our media project. It shows the dangers that are specific to filming in our location.

planning: Shot list

This is our shot list for our film opening. It describes each shot in the opening and what they are of. This could change as we get feedback.

Updates: Opening Animatic

Here is the animatic that we made for our opening sequence. We used adobe premier to make this and then added copyright free music this.

Updates: Opening synopsis

Here is the initial idea for our opening however, it is likely to be changed as we get feedback.

A girl is alone in the woods at night. The only sounds heard are diegetic sounds of various animal sounds, other than that there is silence. There are plain black screen with titles over it. It then wipes to another shot of the girl. This then wipes back to a black screen with titles. It then goes back to another shot of the girl. As the girl walks further through the wooded path she becomes increasingly scarred and tensions builds. She hears a noise behind her that sounds like footsteps, she looks around and nothing is there. She hears it again but this time when she turns around there is a silhouette of something in the distance. This thing starts running towards her. The girl then starts running screaming etc, the person keeps gaining on her. The girl then gets lost at a dead-end in the woods. The person catches her up and grabs her. We then hear a shriek from the girl as the camera is turned away so that we don’t see what happens. It then cuts to another plain black screen with the name of the film on.

Genre research summary

In the genre of horror, the titles used follow a general pattern. Many titles are red to connote red or danger. They also seem to be quite slow pace to create a sense of suspense and tension. The contents of the titles is usually quite little, where it would perhaps only contain the name of the film and possibly a few producers/directors names.

The music used in opening sequences tends to be quite slow paced to create an eerie and spooky atmosphere and therefore creating tension. However, there is sometimes no music at all, with possible some talking or diegetic sound, this also builds a sense of tension.

Usually, in opening sequences, we see very stereotypical characters, this allows us to know a fair bit about the character without the film having to show their background. However, sometimes we get the opposite where the characters are quite plain so there is nothing really to know about them apart from if they're male or female. This allows the story to show who the characters are and what they are like.

The settings of horror film openings generally tend to be places that are isolated , where no-one is around to help  or seem what is about to happen, therefore a sense of isolation and vulnerability is created. The lighting is usually quite dull, mainly because it is at night that most openings happen but also so an eerie and spooky feel is created.

Nearly all the time in horror openings the enigma theory of creating questions and a mystery is employed. For example in the opening to '28 days later' we see the main character alone in empty streets in a large city. This makes the audience want to know more and to watch the rest of the film.

Editing can vary in horror film openings, it can either be very fast paced to connote a sense of panic, but also it can be quite slow to create a spooky and eerie atmosphere. The kind of shots used tend to be close ups of characters so that not too much of the character is given away. However in ' The shining' for example we get an extreme long shot of the car, but this is also used so that not much is given away.

Audience research focus group

To get feedback on our initial ideas, we created a focus group on Facebook and uploaded our genre mood board so that some people could see it and give feedback.

Kurt Jackson and Callum Moore commented on this and give us feedback, which you can see in the screen shot below:

Both Callum and Kurt are stereotypical teenagers who are into the same sort of things that can be seen in our audience mood board. This is why they were chosen for feedback as they represent our target audience.

They also both agree that the opening sequences that we have chosen to analyse give some good pointers for when it comes to filming our horror film opening, as they use many advanced techniques and also are some of the best of the genre. 

Not only this but they both enjoy horror films and they say that they would probably enjoy our opening sequence if we were to follow the elements seen above and in the opening sequences we chose ('Scream' and '28 Days Later').

Target Audience

Below is a moodboard we have made to show our target audience. It shows what sorts of things they are generally into as consumers:Demographically, the social grade(s) that apply/ies to our particular target audience would be grade C1-C2 . This would generally be people our own age (16/17) up to people about 20/21 of both genders.

Psychographically, our film will appeal mostly to Hedonists. People our own age will generally be Hedonists, as you may be able to tell from the above moodboard, however it could also appeal to a mainstream audience and possibly even individualists.

Film Openings; Genre specific analysis

We analysed two different film openings for the genreof horror and looked at how the methods of producing meaning are specific to this particular genre.

We looked at the openings of 'Scream' and '28 Days Later'. The former follows a restricted narration as we are only following one particular character in the scene. This helps to create suspense/tension as we only know what this character knows and nothing else. This means that when an event happens it comes as a shock to the character and viewer and makes the scene scary.
Likewise, this is evident in the opening to '28 Days Later'. We again follow only one character therefore creating ellipsis in a way, meaning we are scared and get shocked when something happens to the protagonist.

In 'Scream', the character we follow appears to be a stereotypical American teenage girl. This adds the scene as it makes her seemingly vulnerable and in need of protection. The fact that she is alone in the house also adds to this tension.
This sense of helplessness is shown in '28 Days Later' too because we get very high angle crane shots when he is wandering around the deserted London because this gives us the idea that he is small and vulnerable in comparison to the huge buildings around him.

In the same movie, the non-diegetic music that is played at the start creates a gloomy/eerie  mood which again suggests that this is a horror film in contrast to a comedy or action film.
In 'Scream' however, we do not relly get any music, diegetic or otherwise. This is effective though and creates tension and achieves the same effects as the other film opening as the lack of music in the scene connotes a sense of being alone and helpless. 

In 'Scream' we do not get much of an introduction to the protagonist other than her name and some other general information about her. This gives the reader the impression that she is not a very important character and that she is about to meet her demise. This, again, connotes a sense of fear and builds up tension in the scene as the audience is wondering when she is going to be killed and where.


In '28 Days Later', however, we get various close-ups of the main protagonist to show the audience that our attention is on him and he is the one we will be following throughout the story and that he wont die straight away but instead we will learn more about him later on. We also discover a little about his character through his actions on screen, however we don't learn much about him again connoting isolation along with the deserted city streets 

Genre moodboard

Above is our genre moodboard. As you can see we are concentrating on the genre of horror and these are some of the elements, that we think are relevant to the type of horror we will do, that will be included when we come to filming.