Animatic Storyboard

 



Blood making

Realistic syrup blood - this method had the right consistency, fairly runny but not watery, however it came out as more of a brown colour than red. When it was dropped onto a surface it splattered out to give a realistic look. It mostly tasted of chocolate and syrup which would be good for my actors as it doesnt taste revolting.

Simple red blood - the second method looked a lot like blood as it was a simple water based style. It looked too runny to use in filming and probably too bright red, it needed to be darker and thicker. It tasted of water with food colouring in it.

 

Chocolate blood - the chocolate blood was a rather brown colour due to the cocoa and chocolate syrup being added, this meant that it tasted of chocolate a lot. The thickness was good as the powder thickened the water up, when dropped from a spoon it splatted nicely but could of spread more.

 

Tomato blood - this version was very good as it had a good viscosity and colour, however maybe slightly too bright. The drops parted well. It had a very strong ketchup flavour which would not be good if my actors don't like tomato ketchup.

 

Golden syrup - the last one we tried was this golden syrup one. It was very sticky and fairly thick as the syrup made everything stick together. It tasted good as it was mostly syrup, when dropped it didn't spread as much as i would of liked.

Costume

I chose these outfits for my characters as they are all very stereotypical and therefore the audience can immediately work out who they are, what they’re like and what they do. I felt that with my story line and characterisation that it was best not to turn the conventions of film on its head but rather to go with it and maybe even over exaggerate them.

Editing a work sheet

Props

 

Story board

 

Horror Location Shots

There are a few risks involved regarding filming in these locations.

Schedule for filming

Preliminary Storyboards

Story board 1:

Story board 2:

Preliminary Task

Match on action - is an editing technique for when one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot.

Shot reverse/reaction shot - this shot is when you focus on a character, switch quickly to what they are looking at, and then back to the character to get their reaction.

180-degree rule - imagine a semi circle on one side of a conversation between two people, the camera stays on the line of that semi circle when filming.

My preliminary script;

Nick: Alright miss?

Sophie: Your essay is not good enough!

Nick: But miss, I tried my very hardest on that you don’t understand how long it took me.

Examination

What was my role?

I was the camera man within this task, so i had to make sure i was at the right angles and taking the right shots. I was also the director, therefore i had to tell the actors what to do in the film.

What worked well?

The task as a whole worked very well. My actors followed my instructions closely and did as they were meant to; the angles of the camera were done correctly, including the 3 shots we had to include; match on action, shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule.

What didn't work well?

We had to retake a few shots when the actors forgot their lines, or if i was not in the right place and the camera wasn't at the right angle.

What will you do differently in your main task?

I will take more care with the camera angles and steadiness to get a better picture, also i will make sure my actors are prepped with their roles and know their lines.

Presentation

 

Audience Profile

For my audience profile i ask a total of 32 people a number of questions relevant to horror films. Firstly i asked people from the age of 5 and over whether or not they watch horror films, then i decided to pose the same question but to people only within the top age group of 16-20 and split the results into gender. My next question was to define what horror topic people prefered to watch and then what killer they liked to see in such films. My fifth question was to find out the prefered victim of a film, and then finally the amount of murder people like to see within a horror film.

 

From this questionairre i found out a lot of the preferences people have with horror films. I will encorporate my results into my plan for my horror opening. Therefore i will aim my film at males within the age of 16-20; i will base it on the psycological theme; my killer will be a middle aged man who targets a young/middle aged female (the stereotypical victim) and finally i will only have one murder within my entire film.

Institutional Research

 

Institutional logos are used at the beginning of films so that the audience knows what company the film comes from. They are normally very memorable and easily recognisable. Most logos are an animation of about 30seconds, however usually they are cut down or simply just the final version of the logo is shown.

 

 

 

Warner Bros pictures is an extremely well known film production company. It was created in 1923 and is an American producer of film, television and music. The brothers that founded this company went through a lot of economic hardships to keep it going, especially when they bought a theatre to show their creations. They released the production of 'The Jazz Singer'  which made them the first company to genuinely create a picture movie with sound, this occured in 1927. Films by this company include; The Hobbit, Inception, The Hangover, The Great Gatsby, Superman, Magic Mike. Some of their well known horror films include; The Dark Knight, The Conjuring, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Apparition, The Shining, Orphan.

Universal is a common American institution for film founded in 1912. It is owned by Comcast and is one of the top six movie studios. It is the oldest movie studio in the USAand the fourth oldest in the world. Universal was one of the first companies who decided to cast actual known actors and give them billing and screen credits. in 1945 Universal decided they wanted to be international and break out of the traditional theatrical styler films, however this did not happen as some of the company did not approve.

Films by this company include; Les Miserables, Ted, Tower Heist, Bridesmaids, Paul, Scott Pilgrim vs The World. A few of Universals known movies in the horror genre are; Dracula, Drag Me To Hell, The Starngers, Dead Silence, Psycho, The Mummy.

 

Conventions of Film Openings

Conventions of Film Openings

 

The purpose of a film opening is to interest the viewer so they get immediately hooked into the film. It will also state the genre of the film and you will see an protagonist or another character.

 

Most film openings are around 5minutes long however some extend to 10minutes.

They introduce key characters or a key theme.

A plot is introduced and the beginning of the narrative.

A scene or setting is established.

Key credits like production companies and main cast are presented.

Generally starts with equilibrium.

Sometimes a key event will occur.

A lot of non-diegetic sound.

Narration.

The Cabin In The Woods

Constantine

This shot is of a well known production company, however the film makers have manipulated its traditional logo to fit it with the theme of the film by making it a dingy brown dust like colour and having it break off to fade out. At this shot the only sound you can hear is the logo breaking up as if it were bricks crumbling and breaking.

The screen fades to black and then white writing appears telling the viewer about the spear. The contrast of the colours makes the writing stand out and look important. There is no sound present so that the audience focus on the words on the screen.

This is an establishing shot used to set the scene, which is an abandoned church area that possibly got burnt down. The dust shows that the area in not suitable for living and that what was once a place of refuge is now only a memory. The writing also sets the scene by telling us where the filming took place. There is a dusty wind sound echoing in the background.

This is also an establishing shot but also a two shot. It shows us what the inside of the 'church' is like and how the people that once lived around there have been forced to scavenge on this turmoil or moraine for food. Their clothes show us that they probably live there, they don't wash and they don't have a change of clothes. The wind sound bridges over and bird noises are introduced.

Overall this is a shot reaction shot. The first shot is a worms eye view shot, showing the character from above the camera looking down at 'us'. This implies something of importance that he is looking at. There is a quiet spooky and somewhat hypnotic sound as we focus on the hole in the ground along with the sound of the rubble and dust falling in.

The second shot is a POV shot of the hole this character was looking through. The fact that he is looking through a small broken hole shows that what he has found was once hidden. The sounds in the above shot bridge over but come to a crescendo.

The last shot is the reaction of the character, he is intrigued as to what is in the hole so cautiously but early lowers his hand to rummage in the hole to see if there is anything of value buried. Again, these sounds bridge over to this shot

Here the character is crouched down to the floor with his body language very closed. He is holding a nazi flag which links back to the second shot of the dagger not being seen since WWII. Something is clearly wrapped up in this flag and the character is trying to find out what but doing so secretively so that the other character can not see what he has found. The music is still present but gets deeper and builds more suspence. 

This same character was walking away from the site with his findings, on his way he gets hit by a car that comes out of no-where. In this shot you see how the character is hit side on by the front of the car, which leads you to think that he is now dead. At this point you hear the man panting as he is walking, when he gets hit you hear the sound of a crash but it is much louder than it should if a car hit a person; more like the sound of two cars crashing.

This is the mans arm after he gets hit, there is a cross like symbol which relates to the sword and its meaning. The symbol comes up looking like a scar, showing that he has some power to do with the dagger and he cannot now escape his fate. The music sounds like operatic singing getting very loud quickly, with a fortissimo bang when the symbol appears fully on the mans arm.

The character has now miraculously jumped up from being hit and runs away into the distance, leaving the audience with many questions as to why he survived such a horrific crash. The music comes to a dimminuendo as the man runs away, as the main sound is the focus of him panting.

Psycho reinactment

For our reenactment we chose to do the shower scene from the film Psycho. We chose this because it had a variety of camera shots and was a fairly easy horror scene to do ourselves.

The original scene.

 

Our reenactment scene.

A Nightmare On Elm Street

 

 

Hot Fuzz Analysis

 

 

Scream Presentation

 

 

 

Table of film analysises

Horror conventions

Horror Conventions

• Setting - secluded location; barns/farms, hotel, cabins, abandoned houses, graveyards, basements, forests. Bad weather.
• Themes - death, good vs evil, revenge, supernatural, insanity, lust,
• Characterization
• Iconography
• Clear binary opposition
• Cinematography - low key lighting
• Low angle shots and point of view shots
• Effective music and sfx
• Start with equilibrium
• Costume and props

Psycho analysis

History of horror

 

Camera angles and shots

Close up - this is a shot that highlights/ frames something in particular (a person or an object), it focuses on one thing and displays the most detail that the audience needs to be looking at, it does not include the broader scene around. This shot is used so the audiences attention is on one thing only that is of significance at that moment in the film.

Tracking shot - this is when the camera follows the action, the camera doesn't stay still but the angle is often the same. This shot is used a lot in horror films as a POV shot of the villain. It is used to draw the audience in so that the feel as though there are in the movement.

Panning shot - this is when the camera stays in one place but spins round to view mostly the setting. Panning shots are used to track movement horizontally or to suggest fast motion.

Shot reverse (reaction) shot - this shot is when you focus on a character, switch quickly to what they are looking at, and then back to the character to get their reaction.This editing technique is often used to express dialogue and continuity.

Low angle shot - this is similar to a worms eye view shot, however the camera is not angled straight up, it can differ from any angle that gives the idea of looking up. This shot is used generally to connote power and authority over whatever is in the shot.

Two shot - a two shot is a simple camera technique where there are two characters in view of the camera. This shot is good for establishing relationships between characters and introducing people into the scene. It's also a good way to follow the interaction between two characters without getting distracted by surroundings.





Establishing shot, long shot, wide shot - an establishing shot shows the scene and tells you the setting of the film. A long shot is a deep shot that looks down the area. A wide shot is when the camera angle is wide and a lot of the scene is visible. One of these shots is normally the opening of a film to set the scene of where the film takes place.

Mid shot - this shot is when the camera only gets in the top part of the character, from the waist up. This is a good way of establishing a character as you see the majority of them enabling the audience to make a judgement on them based on their overall appearance. It enables the character to develop themselves whilst the audience is viewing them.

Zooming - this is when the camera either focuses in on something (zooming in) or comes back to show more of the setting (zooming out). This is used to give a different perspective of the scene.

High angle shot - this is similar to a birds eye view shot, however the difference is that the camera is not angled straight down, it is any angle in between that and head on from above. This is used to show an isolated character that has no control over their surroundings.

 


180 degree rule - this is when the camera stays on one side of a conversation. Imagine a semi circle on one side of the two characters, the camera stays on the line of that semi circle. This is important because a break in the continuity and the disconcerting effect it may have on the audience would upset the illusion of reality and cause the viewer to break away from the reality of the film.

Match on action shot - is an editing technique for when one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. This is done to create a sense of continuity, the action carried through creates a visual bridge. This shot creates continuity by creating a 'visual bridge'to draw the viewers attention away from the editing.