Deadline for Our 2 minutes Horror Opening

In the lesson on Monday 29th November, we were told that our deadline for filming our complete 2 minutes opening was due on 28th February 2011. This includes filming extra shots so that when we move forward to Post-Production, we would have a variety of shots to edit with.  

Film Classification

As our two minutes opening is to a teen horror film, we needed to know about the film classification of it and what is allowed and suitable in a 15 ceritfied film. I used the British Board of Film Classification's website www.bbfc.co.uk/ to find out information about the 15 certification and what is unacceptable to be in a film in this category.

 The information below is taken from the website about the 15 classification:

Discrimination - The work as a whole must not approve disriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs - Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances such as aerosols is likely to be unacceptable.

Horror - Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour - Dangerous behaviour (e.g. self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied.

Language - There may be a frequent use of strong language. The strongest language may be acceptable if it is justified by context. Aggressive or repeated use of strong language may not be accepted.

Nudity and Sex - Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. Also sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. Strong references may not be acceptable unless it is justified by context.   

Violence - Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Strongest gory images and strong sadistic or sexualised violence are unlikely to be accepted.

Theme - All themes are allowed providing that they are appropriate for 15 year olds.

The Opening Titles

We have to think about the opening titles of our film as this is what makes our opening look like the start of a film and not a trailer. To start with, I watched the openings of three different films from the website www.artofthetitle.com/ and listed down the information that I see on screen in order.

Hostage 

• Production and Distribution Companies                   
• Production name



This is a screenshot of the website showing

the title of the film 'Hostage'

• In association with
• A film by
• Name of main actor
• Title of the film
• Names of actors and actresses
• Casting by
• Music by
• Co-producers
• Costume designer
• Editors
• Production designer
• Director of photography
• Executive producers
• Producers
• Based on the novel by
• Screenplay by
• Director



This is a screenshot of the website showing

the title of the film 'Fallen Angel'

Fallen Angel

• Production Company
• Names of main actors and actresses
• Title of the film
• Names of actors and actresses
• Screenplay by, Based on the novel by
• Director of photography, Music by, Musical direction, Song by
• Art direction, Set decorations by, Associate, Film editor, Costumes by, Make-up artist, Special photographic effects by, Sound by
• Producer and director

MirrorMask 

• Production company

  

  This is a screenshot of the website showing

  the title of the film 'MirrorMask'

• Production name
• Names of actors and actresses
• Composer
• Supervising sound editors
• CGI supervisor and producer
• Casting director
• Editor
• Director of photography
• Executive producers
• Producer
• Screenplay by
• Story by
• Designed and directed by
• Title of the film
  

I learnt that from watching these film openings that the title of the film does not always have to appear at the start but can appear later in the opening or at the end. Also the names of actors/actresses that appear first on screen are usually the main ones and sometimes the names appear on their own or fades in and out. The names of actors/actresses that are less important appear later in the opening. Also I have noticed that the names of the directors are always seen in the opening of the film as they want to be recognised and known for the film and they are also important. The director's name does not appear in the end credits as people are not interested in the end credits and would skip them, missing the name of the director.

Locations

Today, we went to look for suitable locations that we could use in our opening of our horror film.

These our the pictures that we took of different locations and surroundings that could be suitable to include and use for different shots of our opening.


Location 1: Pleasure Park

                  

Location 2: Town

Another location that we came along to and thought could be suitable in our opening was the Regent Street Alleyway.

Location 3: Regent Street Alleyway, filmed anytime

           Pros:-Quiet

                -Not many people pass by

           Cons:-Little and tight space, making it harder to film

                -Difficult to use a variety of camera shots and 

                 angles

         



Casting

On Monday 15th November, we discussed and thought about our cast, deciding who would be playing the characters in our opening. We also talked about the personalities of our characters so the people that we have casted can understand the character they are playing.


Cast

Scarlett Colson ...       Ellie (bubbly, confident and heartless)
Connor Hobbs    ...  Ben (short-tempered, mysterious and twisted)
Jamie Reed      ...              Matt (funny, friendly and smart)
Hayley Bell     ...      Friend #1 (happy, sociable and sensible)
Natatsha Weldon ...         Friend #2 (loud, sociable and bubbly)
Ellie Markie    ...    Friend #3 (trustworthy, honest and caring)

Storyboarding our Opening

In todays lesson, we created these storyboards to help us plan and film our opening two minutes of our film. In each box, like our stroyboards for our Preliminary Task, we had to identify the location, camera shot and angle/movement of that shot. With these storyboards, we were able to use a range of different camera shots from an establishing shot to an extreme-close up. This would help make our opening more interesting and would show our creativity. 

Two Possible Opening Ideas

On Monday 8th November, we started thinking about two different ideas for our opening. We also thought about the pros and cons for each opening location and how it can affect our filming.

Opening Idea 1

Girlfriend and boyfriend, Ellie and Ben are walking through the park, holding hands to the Bandstand where she slowly breaks up with him. She lets go of his hand and walks off, leaving Ben standing there alone. Ben does not understand why but is confused and raged about the suddden break up. He then sees new boyfriend Matt waiting for Ellie at the end of the road which triggers his anger (could have an extreme close up of Matt's eyes- showing his anger and jealousy to the audience). Later on, Ellie and her friends all get ready for the fun party ahead while far away, Ben is alone in the dark stabbing photos of Ellie, Ben and her friends.

Location: Pleasure Park, filmed at about mid-morning or late afternoon
         Pros:-Nice surroundings
              -Autumn atmosphere

         Cons:-Quite a lot of people around
              -Dark early


Opening Idea 2

Ellie and her friends are going into town where Ben and Matt are already in town. Ellie sees Ben and Matt and meets up with them. Ellie goes up to Ben and Matt goes over to her friends, seeing that Ellie had something to tell Ben. Ellie breaks up with Ben and he is finding it hard to cope and believe the sudden break up. Ellie, Matt and her friends all leave Ben standing there alone, not feeling a slight sympathy for him, she walks off. Ben's anger builds up, seeing her not caring a slight bit and seeing her with Matt, makes him even more raged and jealous (could have an establishing shot of Ben alone and Ellie, Matt and friends walking further away from him). Later on, Ellie, Matt and friends all get ready for the party, leaving their front door while Ben all alone in his room, plans revenge and is stabbing photos in the dark.


Location: Town, filmed anytime
         Pros:-Easy to use different camera shots
              -Good surroundings


         Cons:-People there all the time


We have decided to use opening idea 2 because it seems more interesting, having a bigger surrounding in town but there would be difficulties due to the crowdness of people, making it harder to film. However, we would be using a range of different camera shots so our opening would be creative and interesting. We already have ideas for our cast, thinking about who would be suitable playing the characters in our opening.

Pre-Production stage

On Wednesday 3rd November, I was absent for that lesson but I am aware that we have all entered the pre-production stage with our ideas. I know that we have to come up with two possible openings for our film and can only choose one of them to move forward with. After choosing one of the opening, we have to create a storyboard, thinking about all the different shots to show our creativity. We then can identify our cast and suitable locations required for this opening. We would need to 'scout' these and evidence would be provided on our blogs.

Pitching Our Idea

In todays lesson, our group (me, Hayley and Scarlett) pitched our idea of our teen horror film 'Revenge is Near', to our teacher. Our idea was accepted and can now be moved forward into the Pre-Production stage, the storyboarding and planning of our opening 2 minutes of this film.

Continuing our Pitch

On Wednesday 20th October, we continued with our pitch, finalising our synopsis of our teen horror film and also adding the names of the characters in the film and our working title. We then wrote up a script for our pitch so we know who's going to pitch what, ready for Monday 1st November. After that, we started thinking about our opening two minutes of our teen horror film.

Making our Pitch

In todays lesson, we talked about the three different stages of Production. These stages include the Pre-Production (everything that takes place before filming), the Production (the filming) and the Post-Production (everything that happens after filming). We then got into our groups and started to come up with a pitch for our teen horror film, including ideas for a working title and the storyline of our film. We would need to be ready to pitch our idea to our teacher on Monday 1st November.

Preliminary Task Storyboards

These are the storyboards that me and my group created to help us plan and film our Preliminary Task. In each box we had a different shot showing the location, camera shot, angle/movement and sound of that shot. This helped us on how and where to film the different shots of our footage. However, this was our basic plan of our Preliminary Task, when it came to filming it we changed a bit of it slightly and added a few more shots.

Finishing Preliminary Task

In my free time today, I added the opening title which we called it 'The Talk' and also added the names of the two actors, which was me and Scarlett, at the begininng too. I then added the end credits, showing who directed and edited the Preliminary Task. After finishing, I exported it as a Quicktime movie and saved the Preliminary Task Final Movie onto the desktop of the Mac and also on my memory stick.    

Editing Preliminary Task

On Wednesday 13th October, we started editing our Preliminary Task on the Macs. We put all the footage together so it all runs smoothly and also added some transitions and effects to it. However, it still needs more added on to it to be finished.

In our free time on Thursday 14th October, we added more transitions and effects to it so that it would be more interesting to watch. All it needs now is the opening titles and the end credits then the Preliminary Task would be completed.  

Prelimary Task Filming and Downloading

On Monday 11th October, we had a double lesson. In the first hour, we went to film our Preliminary Task using different camera shots and movements, giving us a variety of shots to choose from when it comes to editing. After filming, we downloaded our footage from the camera to the Macs so it would be ready to be edited next time.

Horror Film Openings: Wrong Turn

On Wednesday 6th October, we looked at the article about the opening of 'The Shining', a classic horror film starring Jack Nicholson. We then watched the opening first few minutes of the horror film 'Wrong Turn' (2003). Whilst watching the opening, we made notes about the use of visual and audio elements.



There are a wide range of visual elements in the opening of 'Wrong Turn'. Some of these include shots like bird's eye view, establishing shot, and point of view shot. These are needed to create the feeling of fear, tension and suspense that are expected to keep the audience on edge.

The bird's eye view shot at the beginning shows how isolated the location is. This is important as it shows that the victims are in the middle of nowhere which hints the danger. The establishing shot of the cliffs and the woman also shows how isolated and helpless the victims are, intentionally making it hard for them to get out and escape the danger when it comes. The point of view shot of the woman in the chase scene actually makes it look like the woman is running away as the camera is hand-held. It shows the audience how fearful the woman is as the camera is shaking which reflects her panting and panicking. Also it would bring tension and suspense to the audience as they don't know what is chasing the woman.

The editing is faster to create the 'false scare' to the audience to keep them feeling the tension before the actual danger and horror comes. The example of this editing is the scene where the woman nearly falls down after losing her grip of the rope. This would make the audience jump as the start of the opening would have kept them on edge.

The audio elements in the opening are just as important as the visual elements in creating the tension and suspense. The audio elements include the music in the background and also additional sounds. 

At the beginning of the opening, the tempo of the music increases to suggest the sense of danger is nearby. Also there are drumming over the top which emphasizes and pinpoints the danger. The music is orchestrial which includes stringed instruments which is significant in creating the feeling of fear.

The enhanced sounds are louder so the audience would feel the suspense as they wait and expect for the danger to happen. One of the sounds that is enhanced is when blood drips on the woman's face which for the audience is the beginning of the horror.

Horror Film Openings

On Monday 4th October, we discussed the conventions of horror films relating to narratives, characters, settings and iconography. We then watched the 5 minutes opening of 'Jeepers Creepers' (2001), 'Jeepers Creepers 2' (2003) and 'Dead Wood' (2007). From these openings, we noticed that they included young characters, set in isolated locations and all of them had a threat.

Introduction to Horror Genre

On Wednesday 29th September, we looked at the conventions that we would expect in horror movies and the history behind the horror genre.

This is my presentation on the history of horror movies and the horror film 'Carrie'.

History of horror movies presentation

View more presentations from leannemokkba.

Downloading from Camera to Mac and Transition and Effects

We had a double lesson on Monday 27th September, some groups did some filiming and the other groups were in the Mac Suite and then we swapped over for the last hour. We got the camera first and practised filming some footage to get use to using the camera for our Preliminary Task. Then we went into the Mac Suite where we were taught how to get our footage from the camera into Final Cut Express. We were also shown how to use transitions and effects whilst editing so we can see what's best.

Using the Cameras and Introduction to Final Cut Express

On Monday 20th September, we finished storyboarding and were taught how to use the camera and the tripod after a demonstration by our teacher. We were told when we were allowed to book the equipment for so we can film our Preliminary Task. We then got told our individual group name. Our group name is called 'Coppola' after the famous director, Francis Ford Coppola.

On Wednesday 22nd September, we were introduced to the basics of Final Cut Express to help us learn how to edit footage. We then tried using Final Cut Express on one of the footage to get used to editing with FCE and also going on the Macs.   

Planning our Preliminary Task

Today in the lesson we went through the camera shots, angles and movements thoroughly so we can decide what is best for our storyboarding. We then understood the concept and started storyboarding our Preliminary Task, deciding the best camera shot and angle for each shot.

My First Post

I am pretty excited to start my Media Studies AS level course at KBA.

I was introduced to the course and was shown how to set up my blog so I can keep posting about my work as I go along.

We were also shown how to use our school email to keep in touch with the teacher about the work and any extra information needed. We then had a demonstration on how to create an account on Slideshare so we could put powerpoints on to our blogs.

There was also an introduction about the Preliminary Task and what it involves. I then got into groups with Hayley Bell and Scarlett Colson who I would be working with. We were shown clips of camera shots and movements so we get an idea of what to include when storyboarding.