http://www.youtube.com/embed/a_Hw4bAUj8A

I want to do my film in the same sort of style as 'the Blair Witch.' By using a hand held camera, and being able to move more freely with it, making the shots easier and movement more accessible. I also want to make my film in this style as I think it adds to the codes and conventions, making it more believeable and adds more tension. This would put the audience on edge more, and keep them more interested.

Synopsis

SYNOPSIS

4 friends go into a wooded area with a camera, where 6 months ago a girl went missing from her friends when they were camping. Courtney recalls the situation, and starts to have a nervous breakdown in the particular area the incident took place, and starts to act abnormally weird around everyone near her. Sophie then disappears after thinking she’s seen someone other than who she is with, and curiously wanders over to see what it is, and doesn't come back. With Sophie repeating the previous story of a girl disappearing, and Courtney having a psychotic breakdown, it’s up to Callum, and Kelsey to try and figure things out, and to stay safe. 

Maltese Falcon Clip

Aims and Context

AIMS AND CONTEXT

 

The defined audience for my film project are younger people (16-25), as my film would appeal to them more than others. I think this aged audience would be more suitable for my film project as younger people tend to enjoy scarier movies more than other age groups, because they seek the thrill and anticipation of a frightening film and usually go with a group of friends, to have a good time and laugh at each other.  I also think my film would appeal to this age group more, as it is based on teenagers and all the characters are within this age range.

Stylistics of a psychological horror films usually involve a back story of what has previously happened to make the antagonist/ killer the way they are, making things more clear and obvious to the audience. I’m also going to use voice over, not necessarily to narrate what’s going on in the film, or what’s already happened, but to make the film seem more frightening that what’s been shown on screen. I’m going to use the voice over as a sort of whisper in the characters mind, to play with the audience, and to form a stronger emotional response from them.  The structure of a psychological film usually has a murderer that seems normal on the outside, but is completely disturbed mentally, and plays mind games and tricks on other characters, getting them, and the audience frustrated. The film ‘Se7en’ is an example of a psychological thriller, as we see the characters get more and more wound up at not being able to find nor catch the serial murderer, who is leaving them clues, until the very end of the film, which has a huge twist in the plot, in the last few scenes. ‘Silence of the Lambs’ is also a good example of this sub-genre, as the main character has to use one well known murderer, to catch another, with serious plot twists.

The roles that I’m going to be taking during creating my film project are Director, Storyboard artist, Editor, Script writer, Producer. I’m taking on a lot of roles whilst making my film and have to do different things that will require a lot of work.  I want to be able to edit the colour and contrast of my film, giving that eerie effect, given that my chosen genre fits within the horror field. I would like part of the script to be a kind of voice over, but still so the character can hear it, but think that it’s their head, adding to the psychological part of my film, which is the sub-genre I’ve chosen to do.

With previous work from AS level and FM1, I think I’ll focus on cinematography and how I want things in the scene framed and angled. These are important to my chosen genre because the audience would be able to see more of what was going on in the backgrounds of shots, whilst also focusing on what was front centred in the same shot, even though different things would be happening, that the forward character wouldn’t be noticing, but the audience would, creating effects for my sub-genre.  I want the lighting to be quite dark, grey and, depending on that particular shot and what’s happening. As the lighting gives effect and in additionally contributes an emotional response within the audience. I also want the camera to be quite shaky when the tension in the film rises, giving the audience an indication that something is going to happen shortly. This will also gain a response of suspicion and put the audience on edge, as they will be expecting something soon, but don’t know what or when and hopefully play with their minds. I’m going to apply previous knowledge from AS level and examples of films I’ve watched to try and make my film as relevant to the genre as possible, by noting how previous directors and producers have done certain things to attain their goal in their selected genre and reactions from their chosen audience, and how they did it. I’ll closely monitor this by watching films from this genre repeatedly at home, and making notes on what has been done, at which point in the film, and how this how codes and conventions have been added into the film, without being too obvious to the audience.

I’m hoping that everything through making this project will make things I do in the future more organised and timed appropriately, as time plays a very big role in this whole project and course, so if I get it planned and sorted now, I’ll realise that timing is important for everything I do, and take a similar approach to other things, as I did to this. Learning the codes and conventions in AS helped with deciding on which genre to do my project on this year, because it made things easier when thinking what I had to do and what specific things were needed in order to achieve my chosen genre.

Genre Conventions

Genre Conventions

 

Genre: Horror

Sub-Genre: Psychological horror 

 

·         Psychological horrors are based on the protagonists beliefs, fears, and hidden truths that the character has previously done.

·         Usually involves ordinary people, subjecting the horror towards the other characters and their evil work isn’t shown until the end of the film, and when everything has been fully established.

·         Narratives can be based on true facts or occurrences as it adds value to the films, and to increase scare factor as the audience knows that there is a possibility of it actually happening. 

·         The killer in psychological films always appears normal, no signs that would indicate that they’re a killer.

·         Relies on the audiences mind to create the horror effects and mysteries.

·         Flashbacks are used to take the audience back to see why the killer is disturbed and why they’re like that.

·         This sub-genre is more subtle than a normal horror film, as there is less physical harm to the characters, and less blood and gore visual to the audience.

·         The surroundings of psychological films are usually big houses, forested areas and old abandoned places, such as a hospital.  Theses create realism within the audience because they can relate on some levels, as these places are usually in an everyday setting for people, making their fear increase, as they picture themselves in the same situation.

·         Create discomfort in the viewer by exposing vulnerabilities and fears.  Expose that evil hides under normality, but with splashes of the paranormal, the audience is completely unable to relate, causing them a rush of excitement.

·         Sound doesn’t always match what the audience are seeing on screen. It can be the complete opposite of what is happening, to create an uncomfortable feeling amongst the audience, as the tension and anticipation rises with what’s happening in the film.

·         The main aim of a psychological horror is to scare the audience mentally.

Evaluation

In order for us to produce this task we had to be placed into group consisting of between 4 and 5 people. As a group we had to deconstruct and reconstruct the opening sequence of ‘the maltese falcon,’ by creating a storyboard, handing out roles between the members of the group, decide on locations, props and costumes.

I feel from this task I have gained some new skills; there are working to a shooting schedule, using inniative when plans are going wrong, shooting different camera angles. The final piece was not as long as we intended it to be, due to shooting problems, and continuity errors within costume and settings, this has taught me and the group members that pre planning thoroughly is essential to make a film and produce it thoroughly on time.

Along with the positives that came with making this preliminary piece, we also had some problems to face, Amy Fenwick (the storyboard artist in our group) was ill for the majority of our lessons together, making it awkward for us to prove that we were planned enough to shoot. We overcame this problem by filming in a room within college which had an overhead projector inside, so that we could watch the film whilst we were shooting, this was to make sure we got the best camera angles to match the piece we were reconstructing as possible. However, one thing which we did not do, was shoot all of the scenes from one camera angle at the same time, so we did not have continuity between the over the shoulder shots.

The room that we had planned to shoot in within college was a small office, used for exams, however, when it came to our first day to shoot the fire alarm went off, meaning that was one lesson less for us to shoot, but the other times the room was also full, making it harder for us to shoot in there, leading to a scene change on our last day of shooting, which is noticeable within our final piece through the change in scenery. One way of which we could have got over this would be too make sure we plan with Selena (the officer in charge of the room), when we are able to use the room during our lessons, study periods or own time.

Using the editing suite also proved a problem for our group, we had used a camera which took tape, meaning that when we put the footage onto the editing suite, we lost some of our footage in the process and also had to sort through some other pieces checking what was needed and what was not. Because there were a few of us in the group, it made it difficult for us all to do some editing, around one suite. Although a positive of this experience is that I know when I shoot my final piece, to use a memory stick if possible as the technology is much more reliable.

I feel from this piece of work, I have learnt to use camera angles effectively, use editing suites with ease but also that working as a team is essential in making a successful clip. If I was to do this again, I would use better planning and also making sure that everyone is aware of the script.

Monday, 1 October 2012

Deconstruction + Reconstruction Plan

Group:
Katie Smith (www.katiesmitha2.blogspot.com)
Ellie Walker (www.elliewalkera2filmstudies.blogspot.co.uk)
Harley Young (www.harleyyoungfilmstudies.blogspot.com)
Amy Fenwick (www.a2filmstudiesamyfenwick.blogspot.co.uk)
Bethany Hirons (www.bethanyhironsfilmstudiesa2.blogspot.com)

Director - Amy Fenwick
Producer - Beth Hirons
Camera Operator - Ellie Walker
Storyboard Artist - Amy Fenwick
Production Manager - Harley Young
Editor - Katie Smith

Actors:
Spade - Harley Young
Archer - Katie Smith
Miss Wonderly - Beth Hirons
Effie - Ellie Walker

Possible location:
Oak 37
Green Room
College Field

Costume:
Spade - Black suit
Effie - Dark dress
Miss Wonderly - Dark womens suit, Faux fur around neck, Fascinator, black gloves
Archer - Trilby, dark suit, flower in front pocket.

Props:
Cigarette Skin, Fake Cigarette, Hand bag, Pen + Paper, Gun, Teabag

Brief

For my F.M.3 project I am creating a short film. For this I will have to create, 

• Aims and Context

The aims and context must be made clear. Aims of the short film and the context of the production.

• A Creative Project

This is a short film (3-5 minutes in length) and engages with the issues raised in the production of meaning and the study of film stylistics and theory.

• A Reflective Analysis

The reflective analysis should select key features of the creative product and reflect critically on both the creative process and the product.