Friday 27 April 2012

JN:Evaluation

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Friday 16 March 2012

Group: Lesson 4

Today in our lesson, each group presented a rough cut of their opening sequence. Each group took it in turn to exhibit a rough cut of their final piece,which then recieved feedback from the rest of the class.


AM: Font and Title Development



One word titles such as Brick (Johnson, 2005), Se7en (Fincher, 1995) are quite effective as titles themselves, and in marketing. They can be striking and memorable if used effectively. So, here are some examples and reasoning behind some one word titles;

Cane – The Antagonist's main weapon, he relies on it to walk (Mild disability), used to knock the protagonist out before he is taken to the cellar.

Lurk – “Lurking” is a phrase often used on the internet in forums and such social and media sites. It refers to a user observing people via listening to them, following their internet activity and/or posts without contributing or necessarily knowing the lurked victim. Lurking is often derogatory and has connotations of a creep, or loner. The word itself also has a unique acoustic value, which would resonate in the audience’s memory.
Others:

Don’t Look Down

Down You Go! – This title satirical Implications, because of the possible friendliness and enthusiasm in the exclamation mark, however the genre would suggest otherwise. This may be difficult to portray as you could never be sure that the audience reading is interpreted as the same as the intended meaning. 


Gogo ZOmbie        C A N E   LURK  Down You Go!  

Capture it                                 c A N E                 L U R K          DOWN YOU GO!

ELEPHANT                            C A N E                    LURK           DOWN YOU GO!

Elephant                                     Cane                           Lurk                     Down You Go!

FUTURIST FIXED CANE    LURK    DOWN YOU GO!
Futurist Fixed Cane    Lurk   Down You Go!



Wednesday 14 March 2012

Group: Planning (Film shoot 3)

After previous shoots, our group has come to a conclusion about whats needs doing and what needs to be changed.


Mise-en-scene 
The costume for the antagonist will need to be changed due to its ridiculous connotation, which came across more comical then scary. To fix this the antagonist (Joe) will where a costume more fitting to that of a psychotic murderer.


Lighting
The beginning shots will also be redone due to the poor lighting,that was experienced at our last shoot. This problem will be sorted out with the use of extra lighting - lamps, torches and so on.


Lists of new shots:

  • Top button
  • Card Discovery
  • Going down stairs
  • Front door
  • Basement
  • Phone (light)
  • Knockout
  • Awakening
  • Computer shots
Equipment
To improve our shoots we have taken out the equipment as follows

Handicam
This will allow a more accurate and steady POV shot, as it will mean the camera is less 'jerky' whilst filming. It will be used for many of our close up shots when the protagonist has located his shrine

Steadicam
This equipment will mean a much more smoother pan, giving our opening sequence a real sense of professionalism. The main issue we face however is the weight distribution, which will hope will be sorted with the use of practise.

Monday 12 March 2012

Group: Filming (Second Shoot)

Filmed on Sunday, during the hours we were on location, our group completed a number of tasks including:

  • 1 minutes worth of filming which we will use in our final piece.
  • More detailed storyline
  • Turned the location of the cellar into something mysterious and eerie.
Successes - After playing with the depth of field, we managed to film some intresting shots and the advancement of mise en scene in the cellar.

Target - The intro (bedroom scene) needs to be reshot as the mise en scene needs to be changed.

Filming again on friday, after lunch.




A few pictures of the filming location:







Thursday 8 March 2012

Blog Update

Group:
Today we discussed the possibility of another film shoot this weekend most likely Saturday.Andy is progressing with the story board and is near to completiting it which means we can create an animatic next week at some stage.
we have filled out a call sheet and risk assessment and are defiantly filming this weekend.
Andy is putting up the audience research evaluation as it is missing from the blog .
overall we are on track .

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Group: Sound-track




I have been looking at sound from other films such as resident evil 3 this genre of music would suit our opening credits as it is fast paced but creates suspense.                                    
I have been working in collaboration with Harry to create a sound track that emulates the pace but also the suspense that is heard in this track.

The sound is very much one you would associate with horror due to the long swooning basses and high-pitched xylophones sequences. It very much captures the horror feel as it will work with the tension of our film as well as become stuck to the audiences mind.

Group: Filming - 1st Session (Friday, 2nd March)

Strengths:

The filming session was very inventive and full of ideas, as well as our already planned shot. It was an opportunity to play around with our location (cellar) by incorporating interesting props i.e hammers and other grubby workman's tool.
On inspection the cellar was alot smaller then we thought, so other sections of the cellar are going to be used to give the idea of an almost homely enviroment for a killer.

Weaknesses:

When decending into the cellar we discovered the stairs to be quite hazardous due to one of the bottom steps coming loose from the structure. Another problem we faced was the battery life, this was fine to begin with however the camera soon died, putting a thirty minute hault to our filming session.

Roles:

The sequence with Harry in the chair features Andy in the background with Joe filming.
The sequence with the mobile phone feature Andy's hand with Harry filming.
The sequence featuring a POV down the stairs was done by Joe.
The sequence showing the weapons was filmed by Andy.

Sunday 4 March 2012

Research & planning - interim grade

This blog provides proficient evidence of your concept and technical skills development, however there are some gaps. There is some enthusiastic research and Harry is using the blog more regularly to record the process, however all three do engage with key concepts well to research similar media texts. Andy - you are missing a film opening analysis.

Some aspects of the research (film analysis) is a Level 4, however overall the research and planning at this stage is mid L3 for Joe and Harry and low L3 for Andy (gaps and less evidence of contribution to process)

Focus for improvement:
1. Andy - you need to document your contribution in more detail
2. ALL 3 need to comment on each other's posts to show collaboration and discussion
3. Post wilderness edit in the evaluation post
4. What is now your concept idea? The changes and developments need to be clearly recorded
5. Recces - clearly recorded and evaluated
6. Audience research - needs sample of questionnaire and a detailed analysis of methodology and results - how did this inform your concept
7. You should all be using the blog every couple of days to record your own contributions to the process and clearly show technical advances - by this stage there should be research into fonts, props, sounds etc


Thursday 1 March 2012

HL: Opening Analysis 3

Se7en (Fincher, 1995)






Institutional context

  • In this opening sequence we don't directly see the actors, however the intro credits inform us of who will appear. The stars of this film include: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey and a few others.
  • The film was an industrial film, produced by Arnold Kopelson (who is also know for producing Platoon (Stone, 1986).
  • The marketing strategy was based around an alternative ending which was available through special features on the DVD, as well as being novelised in the same year of its release by Anthony Bruno.
  • The production values are shown through a montage edit,with the use of a 'glitchy' and nervous soundtrack paired with these shots creates a sense of horror in the audiences mind, as these graphic images flicker between the antagonist making crafts.

Media Audiences
  • The audience targeted is mainly male however with the use of big actors such as Brad Pitt, some females may also be interested in it.
  • The probable audience reading would be that the being that is features in this montage is undoubtedly evil due to graphic pictures and chilling soundtrack. The possible audience reading could be someone locked up in a mental asylum.
  • My personal reading isn't influenced by my age due to the mature understanding of horror films, however the montage does create a sense of uneasiness due to the vivid picture that it cuts too.

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Group: Lesson 1 29/02/2012

In the lesson today, our group started on the animatic storyboard. We managed to complete half of the hand draw slides, as well as deciding on our diagetic and non-diagetic sound.

In are opening a few lines of dialogue will be used, this will mainly be done by the protagonist as the antagonist will stay silent. This paired with the robe not only introduces a fell of noir but also creates an enigma for the 'evil' character as their gender is hidden, creating gender neutrality.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Group: Pitch for Green Light.

After presenting our pitch we had a feedback session with other class members. During out concept development stages we were inspired by fairy tales and putting a contemporary spin on them as it is a reoccurring style in the film industry i.e. Red Riding Hood (Hardwicke, 2011) and Snow White and The Huntsman (Saunders, 2012).













We thought that using a visual motif such as a red piece of clothing would stand out, however upon criticism we decided to focus on the fairy tale Hansel + Gretle because the original is still quite sinister enough and we could adapt it with a modern twist. Also, in reference to costume, people instead suggested we could utilise a noir element by using a robe/jacket/hat to obscure the antagonist’s face to evoke the feeling of an enigma.
  















As for our story, people responded to us that it wasn’t particularly clear, so we need to refine our story and reduce the amount of points we aim to include in it. We need to make it clear in what it’s about and what the opening sequence could lead on to.
When listening to other groups ideas we thought that many of them avoided stereotypes of the genre they had chosen and media representations to keep it fresh, we think this is a good idea and we will try to keep it in mind in the development process.