Evaluation Activity Seven

 Two Shot

 Establishing Shot

 Extreme Close Up

Part of - Match on Action - Edit

Looking back from our preliminary task we have learnt a lot. We found out in this task how to edit a sequence and match the continuity and this was of great help in our finial piece. As the preliminary task was really short we were able to make sure everything matched the action. These precise skills made us think harder in our final film, as we knew what we had to look for and make sure it worked. This help greatly when we needed to consider the 180-degree rule when our character was watching TV, if we cut back to this scene and the camera was on the other side with the TV and character swapped this would confuse the audience and potentially detract from our sequence. Although we were unable to use the editing skills of shot reverse shot to their full potential, due to an error where the surroundings would not match, we knew how to perform this from all the work we used in our preliminary. 

Evaluation Activity Six

The technology I have used to make our film opening is the camera, tripod, iMovie, Garage Band, Picnik and Paint. Although using the same camera to perform our preliminary exercise I had never used a proper video camera before this time. When it came to producing our title sequence my partner and I had decided that she would act in our film and I would perform the task off screen, i.e. cameraman. This was great as I had to get to know how to use the camera or else our filming would be terrible. However this really wasn’t too tricking but I did extremely enjoy the experience of being in control and using the video camera. So from this I have learnt pretty much everything from focussing the camera to pressing the correct button to start and finish recording. However as I do quite a lot of photography in my spare time I was used to the tripod, but I did have to make sure my movement were smooth and steady as these were being captured on film.

We used iMovie in lots of the previous tasks, including the preliminary and storyboard, so we were used to the concept of how to edit but this time we were doing it on a much larger scale than before. As we did all our filming at once there was quite a lot of recording that we didn’t actually need due to actor or director errors. This made sieving through to find the correct pieces we wanted to use but this was not a problem, just a little time consuming. We had not used Garage Band before I actually create music to fit a piece of film. This was incredibly hard I found to compose a piece music to fit long scene without having loads of changes in the piece. This is why there are 3 sections of music that are repeated. I believe this does work well, sort of like a master shot, where the audience is able to become familiar with the sound so when it is repeated they are not too distracted and therefore it just enhances the scene. I used Paint to create our logo and then overlaid the blood marks using Picnik (photo editor).

Evaluation Activity Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLDdPW5yfR4 (Link unable to be embeded)

I believe there are aspects of our film that are much similar to the opening scenes from the film ‘The Strangers’. This is because to begin with you are not quite sure what is happening but you will find our later in the film. However the title sequence to this film is also the ending, which is not something we did. To begin with they use establishing tracking shots of the area which is similar to ours and then later on everything becomes more sense as we are able to understand what the begin was about. When other have watched our film, they have always mentioned they thought the girl to begin with is sinister or up to something that they must be award of. I believe this is similar to the start of ‘The Strangers’ where the first thought of the boy scouts is, what are they up to? We should be award of this. And in both cases you find out that actually these are the good characters, but that second thought makes the audience more connected with the character, I believe, as they doubted them at first and then realized this was wrong so feel they have made some connection with this character.

Like the strangers our film is also a Horror and both appeal to the same type of audience. Most would consist of viewers seeking a thrill and not many who would be following a particular actor and actress or necessarily a director, but these workers would usually specialize in Horror when being part of these films. As we are an independent company and this is our first product we will only be appealing to the thrill seekers and Horror fans, but with a good distributer we should gain some more recognition and attract other whom may not of watched our film at first.

Evaluation Activity Four

The Target Audience for our film will be young adult males. This is because it should appeal to their interests. When surveyed males preferred Horror, Thriller and Action genres of films, where as most females preferred Romantic and Realistic films. To add to the fact our film is based towards a male audience is that we are using a female character as our lead role film. This, although fits in with our stereotypes of a babysitter, also could have sex appeal for a male audience.

Evaluation Activity Three

Similar to the C+H Production logo the Working Title logo is also very simple and clean, which could also be said for the Universal logo, however although clean and crisp this sort of logo would require much greater technology to be created. This also goes for the 20^th Century FOX logo, both institutes would need to have invested in professional software and the people who know how to use these sorts of programs to produce logos of this standard. Nevertheless C+H Productions is an independent British film company whose main genre of film is Horror and Thriller. This is similar to the bases of how Working Title works. Working Titles are distributed by Universal and I believe this is the institute we would use to distribute our films. This is due to the fact that Universal are a film company who are renowned for producing Horror an Thriller films so our company would co-inside with their productivity already. Another reason why I believe they would be a great company to distribute our films as we are also a British company like Working Title who they already partnered with and we not pose much threat to their productivity as Working Title do not produce Horror or Thriller film, and when they have these have not been of good success. As Universal as a huge American institute so there would not be too much issue with money, however they would obviously not want to lose money but that is a decision only the company could make of distributing our films or not.

Evaluation Activity Two

The female character from my film ‘The Dark’ is much similar to the character of Anita from the film 101 Dalmatians. Both these females represent independent, working female that share characteristic of often putting the well fair of others before their own.  Our character, although only a late teenager, puts her self out into the working world by babysitting as well as going to school and keeping a good grades and enjoying both. This is extremely similar to Anita as she also loves her job, most of the time, and does not depend on others to influence or aid her. However both characters also share this selfless characteristic of putting the well fair of other before their own. In 101 Dalmatians Anita does this by sacerficing her job to save the lives of her puppies. Although she does love her job she is prepared to put her slef on the line to help the ones she loves. This is greatly similar to the female character in our film, when after hearing the noises she goes to check if the baby is okay, and although not in this case it still proves her selflessness by risking her safety to ensure anothers.

Evaluation Activity One

Evaluation Activity 1

View more presentations from Max Hill.

Discussion and Analysis of "The Dark"

I am pleased with most of the aspects of our film. The filming is just how I imagined, which I believe fits the genre well but could have been improved at sometimes. This is mainly because there are not enough unique shots, more the usual standard filming. If we did include some shots, for example a Dutch tilt or a low angled, these scenes would probably become more memorable. I am also not so pleased with the resolution of some of the shots. These are mainly the outside shots where this is moisture in the air and this effect how the camera has focused. However I am pleased with the angles we did use and the close up shots worked well.

I am also extremely please with the editing and continuity that we have achieved. I try to include as many edits as I could to demonstrate my ability of being able to do this well, but not confuse or distract the audience from the story. We were also quite brave in the fact that we used a jump cut from when the babysitter is walking down the stairs to then sitting in the living room watching TV. This is quite risky in terms of showing the audience what has happened but this still not to distract them. Unfortunately we were not able to use many shot reverse shots as when coming to edit we realised the door in shot in one side of the filming but open in the other as we filmed through it. This was unfortunate as we were unable to film these scenes again in the exact same condition so unable to perform this skill. However when the mother walks out the door we do show our ability of performing this edit as the door closes.

The sound in our film works well through most of the film, in my opinion, however there is definitely room for improvement during some points through our film. I am extremely pleased with the sounds used when our logo appears, as this is in direct timing with the flashes and adds to the thriller/horror genre of our film. However I believe the sounds used in our montage of ensuring her safety, by locking the doors and windows, I believe is a bit too upbeat to fit in with the genre. This is only realised when watching the film from start to finish to gain the whole feel of the film. Another sound in our film I am exceptionally pleased with is the screaming at the end of the film. My working partner Caledonia performed this, and I believe is great for the genre and timing in the film. Ending our film on this note and cutting to the title of the film, creates an extremely questionable and cliff-hanger ending for the audience leaving them wanting more.

To conclude I am pleased the overall of our opening title sequence to “The Dark”. This is gained by a total combination of sound, lighting, camera work, editing and mise-en-scene, which have all worked well together. To create a thriller/horror atmosphere you need these entire thing to help gain a realistic yet scary and surreal setting that in conveyed to the audience, and I believe we have managed to do this through the majority of the film. Although at times I believe we could have done more things to improve our filming, lighting, or sound, I do not think this has effected how the audience views our film, and if we did make these changes I do not imagine our film would become dramatically enhanced.

Cast

Max Hill

Camera Man

Director

Actor: Stranger

Phillipa Hill

Actress: Mother

Caledonia Quigley

Lead Actress: Babysitter

(Director)

The Dark - Opening Title Sequence

Location

Due to connivence we choose to film at my house, this was what we needed however as our film is set in a house where a child is being babysat. Near the house is a street lamp lit road with other houses on as well, which was what we had planned to use for the scene where the character is walking to the house in the dark. There are a few shot - reverse - shots used in the hall wall of the house and outside the front door, so i have included these images as well. The scenes filmed inside the house we shot in the Living Room, Hall, Stairs, and one Bedroom. We did not change much in terms of props in these rooms as we wanted to create the most homely effect as possible to make our story believable! 

House

Drive and House

Street Lamp Lit Street

Hazards: Road (Moving Traffic)

Another Road Used

Hazards: Road

Front Door

Hazards: Tripping (Shoes and Door Step)

Hall

Living Room

Living Room

Stair Case 

Hazards: Tripping, Falling

Bedroom

Production logo

Yesterday I designed our company logo for our film production coursework. The C stands for Caledonia, my working partner, and the H for Hill, my surname. I thought these letters worked best from our initials, as the plus sign is able to nicely slot into the C and become the cross bar of the H. As we are producing a Horror/Thriller film i decided to overlay blood splatters to empathise our chosen genre. Here it is.

Animatic

For our coursework we have to produce the title sequence and opening two minutes to a film that we have written, filmed, edited and produced. I drew this storyboard and added the captions in this animatic I produced using iMovie, with the help again of my working partner Caledonia. We photographed the drawing and uploaded them to use in this short clip. I hope it makes sense the drawings are not too hard to understand.

Ideas & Treatment - Outline to the Story of My Filming Coursework - The Dark

IDEAS

            - Adventure

                        - Good Story Line                                         - Could be achievable

                        - Interesting Location                                    - Hard to achieve

                        - Costume (Relation to Location)                  - Hard to achieve, expense

           

- Action

                        - Large Budget (Stunts & Chases)                        - Not achievable

                        - Fast Pace                                                            - Achievable, editing

                        - Good vs Bad                                                      - Achievable, easy storyline

           

- Crime/Gangster

                        - Costumes                                                       - Hard to achieve, expense

                        - Stunts & Fights                                              - Not achievable, expense & danger

                        - Mystery                                                         - Achievable, storyline

- Dark/Sinister (Film Noir)                              - Achievable, shooting & editing

           

- Comedy

                        - Light Hearted Plot                                  - Achievable, storyline

                        - Funny                                                     - Extremely hard to achieve, script           

           

- Horror

                        - Fright/Scare/Fear                                              - Achievable, storyline

                        - Mystery                                                            - Achievable, storyline

                        - Low Budget                                                     - Very achievable

- (Special effect may be expensive)                    - Not achievable, not necessary

           

- Drama

                        - Realistic Characters                                    - Hard to achieve, good actors

                        - Good Storyline                                           - Could be achievable, time

- Sci-Fi

            - Special Effects                                            - Not achievable, expense

            - Futuristic/Fantasy Location                        - Not achievable, expense

Due to achievability, availability and time consumption the genre we are going to go down the route of will be Horror. This is because of the low budget and easy ability to create a storyline that will scare or fright the audience as well as provoking questions that will leave the audience wanting more.

TREATMENT

I am working with Caledonia Quigley to produce our title sequence and opening scenes to the coursework filming project. our film is titled "The Dark" which we have vaguely based on the book entitled with the same name.

Our film is set around a babysitter who has strange thing happen to her and the audience is not quite sure why. our first scenes show her going to the house to babysit but it set in and eerie manner. After she has checked the baby and is then watching TV, these loud noises start to occur, she ignores them at first but then as they become louder she begins to panic. After ensuring her safety by locking the door she climbs the stairs again to check the baby. However this time the baby is not in the cot.

We have decided to make a brief plan as to what would happen later on in our film if we were to continue and produce the whole thing. After she does not see the baby where it was before she starts to panic but chooses to ignore it. Later when checking the third time the baby is replaced and all is fine. However strange unexplainable things happen throughout this girl’s life, similar to this, which end in twisted ending that will explain all.

We are hoping to film this soon, in one of our houses, as it is mainly set indoors. However this will all needed to be filmed at night, due the ‘dark’ theme and the fact it is a babysitting based film, which is usually performed in the evening/night. The darkness will also have a great effect on the genre, Thriller/Horror, as these are dark and eerie based themes. 

Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary exercise, which I filmed, edited and stared in, with the help of my working partner Caledonia. In this task we had to film a conversation between two people as well as showing camera and editing skills like, walking through a door, and using shot, reverse shot in the filming of the conversation. This will be used as part of our coursework to show some of our ability. I am not completely convinced with our acting skills, however this is marked on our filming and editing skills, which, I must say, I am not displeased with.

The Black Hole - Film

Garage Band Lesson

In our lesson on garage band I learnt about how music is used in films to add to the complete effect a film has on its viewer. I learnt that music is used to create an atmosphere or just add to compliment movement. For example music can create dramatic tension by the use of one instrument, a single drum beating as an example. In this lesson we drew some graphs to represent what is going on in the music in correlation with the film. Along the x axis would be the time of the film, and the y axis would be the volume of the music, in my idea of the graph, you could change the y axis to pitch but I will stick me volume. So the total graph length is the total time of the film including the highest peeks to be the loudest points in the music and the lower one the quieter parts.

One film I have looked at to discuss its music in relation to the film is: The Black Hole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_Msrdg3Hk

This short film would not have a very interesting music time graph however it can help us to understand how it works. When the noise of the photocopier is being used the graph would have a small raise in the it. This is continuous throughout the film so the graph would have little bumps for the beep all the way through. Although some people would not say this is music its continuous beat creates the effect of music however it is just one noise repeated. Another noise we hear often through this short film is the noise when the “black hole” is being used, the humming. This is then set in our minds when the hole is used, so we may not even have to see the hole being used but hear the sound and we will know what is happening. Toward the end move and more is happening so the noise level is raised, so our graph will start to look as if it is climaxing. And this is where it finishes, at the peek of the climax, the loudest point of this film is the point of which it ends.

Not many films do this, most short films will climax in the middle and then gradually fall back to a normal level to finish on. But I believe for this film the music is well suited and creates an atmosphere that I believe was meant to be portrayed in this piece.

What have I learnt on iMovie?

What have I learnt on iMovie? Well I had never used iMovie before I started my Media course, so I have learnt quite a lot! First I have learnt how to upload a film clip. This may seem really straight forward but I can be quite complicated for a first time user. After getting all my clips on screen, I then learnt how to view my videos and able to select which clips to use and which clips not to in a new project. After this I was shown how to crop and cut my shots, which was extremely straight forward compared with the uploading. After editing my clips to the standard I wanted, I added the finishing touches like credits and an title opening. I then saved my project and copied my video onto my memory stick.

Breakfast Club Filming

In one of our latest lessons we looked at a sequence from the film “The Breakfast Club”. the sequence we looked at involved meeting the characters and them arriving at school to complete their unwanted detention on a Saturday morning. Here, by body language and a small amount of dialogue, we find out different characters behaviour and a feel for their attitudes, so we had to try and portray this in our piece too. I took the role, with a few others, as the director. This was a hard task as we had the final say and the final look was more or less down to us. However I think we managed to pull it off. Although we didn’t have the same location we tried to create a similar look to the layout of the classroom to the film.

On of the key pieces of information I learned complete ling this task was the fact that it takes a long time to film a small section. This is created by allowing seconds before and after each shot to edit with, and how many times a shot has to be shot to get the desired effect. I also learnt that although you have to work as a team, as it would be extremely hard to produce yourself, the direct has to have the final say to get the job done. This can mean saying things which may seem bossy, and at school, to your friends, as well as keeping the whole production working to actually do what you came there to do.

Comparing Two Film Title Sequences

Media Studies
Max Hill
Comparing Film Title Sequences.

In this essay I am going to contrast two different films based on their title sequence's. I am going to analyse the title sequence of Saw (I) and contrast this to the title sequence of Love Actually. I will be mainly looking at the way in which the opening supports the genre or target audience of each film, camera shots used, voice, how the music enhances emotions, and if I believe it is successful or not to capture the audience.

The first Saw film was released in 2004. It’s genre is Horror/Mystery, and it is mainly aimed at adult males who seek thrills and shock (18-30). I believe the title sequence for this film and genre is very successful. Not to much information is given but enough for the view to want to ask them selves questions that they hope they will find the answers to later.

The title sequence starts with the companies who made the film, Lions Gate Films and Twisted Pictures, then we hear a scream in pain or of suffering I would guess as we also hear a whip crack which I presume has created the scream. As this is happening there is a blackout and the music begins. Blackout are usually used to create suspense or show time passing, so to fit with the genre and the scream this is defiantly here to create tension and suspense. There is then a flash of scribbled writing which reads “Twisted Pictures presents” which then is places in top left corner of the extreme close up shot of a stop watch counting down to 0. This then makes you wonder want this stop watch/timer is for and why is it counting down? There is then another scream but the eerie music is played though the whole sequence.

Throughout this title sequence there are lots of references to time, a clock with the second hand stuck, and more extreme close ups of stop watches counting down. We also have some shots of newspapers, with titles such as ““Jigsaw” Killer Still at Large” and “Missing Man Discovered at Bizarre Murder Scene” so from this we can guess that this will have something to do with later events, and we ask ourselves more questions due to this.

Toward the end of the sequence we see some location shots of what looks to be a warehouse, a name of a street with a warehouse on, and a sign saying “Caution Raw Sewage” so we now have some more idea of location but not completely so more questioned have been raised in our minds. There is also a TV screen with images from a security camera on, so we could make assumptions that someone is watching this or will link to what we have seen so far. Between these shots there are black outs with these strange white scribbley line, and the names of produces, directors and other persons who have created this film. At the end of the sequence the name of the film is revealed in this scribble writing “SAW”.

Love actually was released in 2003. It’s genre is Romantic Comedy, and it is quite a main stream audience but possible aimed at families with elder children. I’m not too sure if this title sequence is completely suitable for the rest of the film. However there are some great aspects of truth in it. The title sequence is extremely different to the rest of the film as it is not staged. It is filming of really people and their true emotions.

The sequence starts with the companies how made the film, Universal Studios, Studio Canal and Working Titles. After this we cut across to the arrivals gates at Heathrow Airport, we know this because of the voice over run through this scene. There is very sombre music playing throughout to add to the drama and emotions. We see lots of families and friends reunited, and showing their love to one another by kissing and hugging. The audience really can draw on these emotions and I think this is emphasised by the true emotions shown and the way is it shot, in a sort of spying hidden camera way which highlights the rawness shown.


Another way that audiences emotions are played on is the voice over done by Hugh Grant. He speaks of true events, and how love was shown and shared during them. One example he talks about is the attack on the twin towers and how none of the phone calls from the people on the plane were of hatred but of love and affection to another person. At the end of the sequence we finishes on the line, “If you look for it, I have a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.” and the part ‘love actually is all around if then shown on the screen and the word ‘is’ is coloured red, differently to the white the other colours are typed in.

These two title sequences are very different to each other in their own rights. The Saw title sequence is very relevant to the rest of the film it builds up lots of questions in our minds that we want to be answered as well as giving us a small insight to what the film is going to be about. The Love Actually title sequence is more about giving information to the audience and not so many questions raised as of this. However the themes of both are relevant to the genre of each film. Saw is extremely eerie relating to it’s horror genre. Where as Love Actually has a very romantic and joyous theme to it’s title sequence which is closely related to it’s Romantic Comedy genre.

In conclusion I have found out that both of these films title sequences are relevant and can be related to the rest of the film or their genre. Although, in my opinion, one is more affective than the other, they both work well for their target audience and this is what really matters in terms of their film being successful. The title sequence is the first part of the film we see and need to create and impact on us to make the audience want to stay tuned.


Saw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccZnOc0hbd4&feature=related

Love Actually
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_saCHD4Wzqk