Week 3, Filming and Editing

In todays lesson, we were planning to film the outside parts in our production but after discussing with each other we decided not to film the other part. As we already had 5 minutes of filming from the inside shots, we thought it would be too difficult to cut down to 2 minutes if we done anymore filming. We were worried about our film opening looking like a comedy, with girls getting ready to go out so we decided to add audio to our production to make it scary. We already had clues in our filming about the killer, with the red wine and picture of his face etc... so we decided to record audio of a walkie talkie with Tom saying things like "white, blonde, 5ft6 girl found" so it was similar to a police reporting from a crime scene. We then filmed Paige (the victim) lying as if dead. We are thinking of editing in this still shots with audio over the top and placing them randomly in the production so it scares the audience and surprises them. This idea is a good because it is like a flash foward of what is going to happen to Paige and also is realistic because we recorded it using an actual walkie talkie. We then uploaded the new videos and starting to put in titles, and edit out the cuts that we didn't need. We plan to go edit the production next week during our spare time to make sure we get everything done on the edits. With editing techniques such as black and white, controlling the volume of audio and speed of the shots we can create the horror effect.

Week 2, Filming

As we did not have school on two days of this week, it was a good idea to use this time to film. We starting our filming at Sophies house because it is old fashioned and we could create the scary look with the help of editing techniques. We filmed in Sophies bedroom and had the light on and curtains closed so it looked as if it was nighttime. It took about 3 hours to time everything as we had to record some shots again, look back on them and alter our storyboard to fit out location. We did not have enough time to film the outside shots because it would have been too dark outside so we arranged to film it next lesson. I think what worked well, in terms of shots was the first shot where the camera zooms out onto Paige ( we changed the main character as we felt Paige, having blonde hair, would stand out more ). We had slight problems with getting some shots correct such as a two shot of me and paige, because of lighting but we can see in edits if it is needed or we can edit the lighting. I also like the way that we used lots of different angles and shots like the point of view shot of the wine glass, and I also liked the way that we used alot of tracking shots so that the audience would feel closer to the characters.

Storyboard and Animatic

Once we had decided on a idea for our production, we had to produce a storyboard that shows shot by shot the different scenes. On the storyboard we included information such as timing, shots, edits, music, dialogue, angles, location and characters in the shot. We then filmed the storyboard using a camera to get an idea of how the production will flow in terms of shots and timing. We then downloaded them onto the computer and attached them to our blogs...

Treatment- Gone

Characters: Ex-Girlfriend- Sophie
Friends- Paige, Lucy
Stalker- Tom

Setting: Girls bedroom
Evening outside

Storyline: Three girls are getting ready for a night out. They are putting on make-up, doing their hair, putting clothes on...generally having a laugh. There are alot of zooms, close ups and tracking shots of us getting ready, this creates tension. Lucy knocks over the a picture frame and cracks it, this signifies the breaking up of Sophie and Tom. Paige opens a bottle of wine that signifies the red blood of a murder scene/crime. Once they have got ready, Sophie is always the last one out the door and she is falling behind because this shows the danger she is in, and that she is alone. There are short shots of them walking, laughing and it is in a dark wintery night under bright street lamps. Sophie keeps hearing rustling leafs but thinks nothing of it and doesn't tell the others. Then you see Sophie on her own, with a 360 degree camera turn it will show the confusion and drama built up around her. Next you see a pair of feet walk up to Sophie, who is lying on the floor in the street...

Stylistic Features of a Horror Film

I will be looking at a horror film so I can spot the stylistic features of this type of film genre. Intial ideas show that we are going to have a stalker type film, therefore I have researched the film "Prom Night" which relates to the horror genre because it is about a crazed stalker. Whilst looking at clips of this film I picked up that the film uses...:
the film starts off happily not showing that the characters are aware that there will be a drama
small things happen such as the music changes, you see small things that relate to the drama
the climax builds up; lights turn off suddenly, jumpy camera shots and the use of light and music helps alot to create the tense atmosphere

This image shows how horror films make the characters look
like they are clucless of what is about to happen, although the audience know something will happen.







This picture shows that the use of lightning is very important. It is very dark and only shows one side of her face in the light. The use of camera angles are also important; as you can see the stalker is positioned so you can not see his face, only the weapon, this adds tension.

Week 4- Final

After presenting our practical production to my class and teacher we were able to gain feedback from them and also it made us aware of things that could have improved. Our production lasted around 30 seconds long, in which time we sucessfully used;
1. match on action shot (opening the door from one side, walking in from the opposite side)
2. shot reverse/ shot (holding a conversation together that flowed)

I believe that we completed the brief well and also, we fufilled the aim of using the above shots. Areas in which we could of improved our work was;
1. lighting: I already stated in week 3 that we were not over happy with the lighting in the shots. This however was unaviodable as we did not alter the lighting in the room our selves, it was a natural effect which could not be changed. The problem with the lighting is that Sophie looks a lighter colour to me on the shot reverse/ shot.
2. speech too fast: this is down to editing. I believe that the speech conversation was too quick but we could also look at it as a positive; tight editing skills.

Overall, I am conclude and evaluate my practical production as being sucessful because we fufilled what was asked of us. I have learnt many technical names for shots such as match on action and the 180degree rule which I think are very important when filming. I shall now take what I have learnt from this task and use it in my further practical work. I also enjoyed who I work with because I feel that we got along well and compromised on ideas altogether.

Week 3

Week 3 involved editing our practical work. We used the whole two hour period to make sure that our production was edited in the right place in each shot. By looking at our animatic and storyboard, we were able to compare each shot, making sure it kept to our planning.

We uploaded the work onto a computer and starting from the beginning of each shot that we had taken twice, we compared each one, all suggesting what one was better and why. For example, in the first shot, the tracking shot was too fast so we chose the other shot which was slower. We had to cut in precisely into each shot to make sure that we carried out continuity editing where each shot flows into the next. We also had to make sure that we included match on match shots in the conversation and walking in. When editing, we realised that all our shots were up to our standards so we didn't have to film any thing again which was a positive. My group and I realised that lighting was a problem in the classroom, but not a massive problem or one, for that matter that we could avoid because we did not change the lighting during the filming; the lighting was something that we could not change. I feel that it does not change the production a great deal, but compared to the walking part at the beginning it is noticable. Despite this I find that it is okay and we do not need to re-locate and film elsewhere.

We all took turns in editing and sat with each other to help one another. We all discussed each editing shot so we all agreed. I feel that the editing went really well and as we didn't have to re-film anything this helped us and our production to flow better. I wouldn't change any
shot because we have used a various amount of shots, angles and camera work so our production and editing was successful in my opinion.