Evaulation Of Final Peice

Here is a link to our finished final horror opening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvwlSud5G4M&feature=player_embedded



In what ways does your media product use, develop or cha­llenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media product develops and challenges the forms and conventions of real media products through the use of the research we looked into other horrors. We researched the typical code and conventions of horror and looked into how we could combine our own ideas within. We also looked at many different kinds of horrors, within separate groups we analysed and presented using mise-en-scene, camera angels, editing and sounds. Using our research we continued such typical conventions of horror through dark and isolated surroundings, a typical vulnerable female character and the constant reinforcement of making the audience feel isolated and vulnerable. As a production company we wanted to make sure the opening was as realistic and frightening as a typical horror would be, we wanted to also include a twist, this is why we choose to focus more on art house. We wanted to combine both a typical horror and a slightly different combination. We wanted realism to come through the opening relating to ‘paranormal activity’ as we wanted fear to severely disarrange the characters. I found that as a group we focused on using the audience’s feelings to our benefit, as within our piece, we didn’t use any dialogue, this automatically divides the horror between a typical blockbuster to art house piece. We decided not to use any dialogue, as we knew it would affect the audience, the use of no dialogue creates a sense of uncertainty and discomfort. We didn’t want to over dramatize the opening, therefore we kept to mainly diegetic sounds of ‘amber’ running away from ‘the follower’ and the screeching of the train, this enabled us to play with the audiences mind and follow the idea of ‘the unknown’. ‘Amber’ was placed in light, pastel colours we wanted to portray and use the typical conventions of horror specifically through ‘amber’ and ‘the follower’ we portrayed amber as a innocent female teenager whereas we kept the follower in dank, dark clothing. This kept the followers identity under wraps, and this also contributed to the audiences discomfort. We decided to keep the followers identity a secret, we decided to include aspects of ‘Alfred Hitchcock’s psycho’ as the murderers identity is revealed at the end, this makes the audience feel threatened by ‘the follower’. We wanted little editing within out opening, as this increased the tensions, and makes the horror more believable. When filming in both the train station and the forest, the colour red was shown on the camera. The connotation of red implies danger and also destruction, ‘amber’ also had red nail varnish on this could symbolically suggest the under lying tone of she is the next target.

How does your media present particular social groups?

The social groups we have in our media product are young adults, a young female and what is seen as a young male. We dressed the young female in light clothing, with a white top, cream scarf and a dark coat. We tried to incorporate a casual look as she was about travel. We conflicted with the idea of a young female travelling at night, as everyone is aware that travelling alone at night is not safe, especially for the female sex. We placed the young male in dark clothing, allowing no features to be seen. We had the young female behave in a casual, calm tone with a innocent nature whereas with the young male we have him behave suspiciously, distinctive and abnormal. The choice of location conflicted with the social group we chose as we chose to film in a train station and a isolated forest. Whereas with the social group you would a associate a abandoned park. The idea of changing the typical stereotype location disorientated the view of the viewer and influenced the idea of art house. We portrayed ‘amber’ as middle class, as she is using public transport. By using the latest phone this suggests her class. As a group we wanted to influence the idea that anyone is at risk, we conflicted with the typical park, and choose a train station. This suggests that nowhere is safe. We wanted a strong message to come from our horror opening and that is that you cannot trust nobody.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that the film distribution company that might distribute our media product would be ‘Film Four Productions’. As we have been classed as more art-house compared to Hollywood mainstream. From what we have researched about art-house opens up to a niche market offering a small, specific target. This is why we have chosen ‘Film Four Productions’; we are aware they only produce a specific set of films including ‘127 hours’ and ‘The Lovely Bones’ . We believe that ‘Film Four Productions’ has presented that they are a British distribution company, and we believe they would be the perfected distributers.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I believe that our target audience would be aiming at 15-25 year olds, we have decided as a group to give the opening a ’15 certificate’ as in areas, the opening is frightening and jaw dropping. I feel that the horror opening wouldn’t be gender specific aiming at both male and female, as we have included both male and female within the film. As a group we have decided to target this specific age group as this film would hit the cinemas, and therefore been seen as a social event, as teenagers to young adults are more likely to see it than a typical 9-5 working adult. For example; a perfect time to realise the film would be a half time or public holiday, as this would increase sales and availability for the targeted audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We decided as a group our favourite opening to a film is the ‘unknown’ so we decided to start the horror movie opening with action. We have ‘amber’ running through the forest this gives the audience the feeling of discomfort as she is only wearing a white vest top. From the surrounds you can tell the season isn’t summer, and this automatically creates a sense of vulnerability. We used a teenage boy and girl to play the parts of the vulnerable female teenager and disarranged follower. This specifically targeting the audience age of 15-25. This puts the audience in ‘ambers’ situation and they sympathise more. We believe this hits home about what can happen. We believe our horror opening not only informs the audience but also educates them.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From this task, I have learnt a lot about film and editing, I never fully appreciated how hard it is to make a film to the full potential you are aiming for. When making and editing our preliminary task, we used windows movie maker. This was the first time I had really come face to face with a editing software. We found this software easy and comforting as it wasn’t as hard to grasp as ‘final cut’ when it came to using final cut, I was completely mind blown, I never believed by using a booklet made by a talented student, would teach me how to use the software. When filming we found ourselves retaking shots as we wasn’t happy with them, when it came to filming the point of view shot of ‘amber’ looking up revealing ‘the follower’ we had one opportunity to get the shot right as we was wanting to include the direct train from Cambridge to London to interact the shot. This put pressure on myself as I was filming my point of view shot. By using final cut it has benifited us majorly as we was able to cut out sounds of the director and place voice overs on the top.

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

There is a vital difference between our preliminary task and our final product. Our preliminary task was filmed over an hour and a half whereas our final product was filmed over three nights. This helped me learn that timing is key as we had to film our final piece in-between a specific time period otherwise the surroundings would be to dark and we would of wasted an opportunity. Whereas in our preliminary task it didn’t matter about the time of day as we was inside. In our final piece we took the time out to go to the different locations and take pictures of the timing and see if it would work with the timing. This defiantly benefited us, resulting in no timing being lost. I feel as if with our final piece, my group worked fantastically, and each and every member stepped out of the box, and stepped up from our preliminary task. From our prelim I believe this is where we all discovered our hidden talents, with Ben and Ellie taking control on directing and myself and George being in the film, myself and ellie felt as though we were more talented at editing and took this role. I believe that by using final cut, this is how we came up with a good horror opening. I believe as we worked our way through filming and editing the opening, we all become more eager to succeed and impress, I feel as if we reached our target, as I am impressed with what we resulted in.

'Mind The Gap' - opening sequence

'Mind The Gap'

(OPENING SEQUENCE)

EXT, FOREST SETTING, DARK & ISOLATED SURROUNDINGS, DUSK (1)

This first scene is set in the future. We are introduced to AMBER by a POV shot of a secluded forest. AMBER A young female adult who is around 20 years old. Her condition leaves the audience with the impression she is in trouble. AMBER is running through dark, cold and claustrophobic woods far away from any near by towns. She is wearing a white top, with a cream scarf, with black trousers. The connotation of colour here reflects her innocence. She has lost a layer of clothing which could resemble that THE FOLLOWER has stripped a layer off her. This could resemble the idea of she is no longer in control and reflects her vulnerability.

AMBER is panicle, running through the woods far out of town which is unrecognisable, with no where to run and no where to hide. The shelter from the trees can’t even protect her. The crushing of the leaves reflects the crushing of her fragile body. We will then continue with using a digetic voiceover of AMBER panting this reflects her weakness and vulnerability.

We open with a long shot of AMBER running through the destructive woods. The camera pans round from left to right resembling a figure watching her. The continuous use of the diegetic sound of AMBER panting. The audience should now feel a connection and feel her agonising pain. We then cut to a mid shot revealing AMBER who looks frightened and battered and the rugged features of a ghost. This image will show her vulnerability and the vast power of the predator.

The scene changes to a point of view shot from THE FOLLOWER this reveals AMBER running abruptly ahead. Through showing AMBER battered and fearful. She stumbles to the ground and stressfully attempts to clamber away. She is startled by the breathe of THE FOLLOWER and freezes with fear. We then cut to an over the shoulder shot of THE FOLLOWER approaching AMBER. We then hear a high pitched scream from AMBER resembling her agony and the scene ends with a blackout.

(AMBER)

‘Please don’t hurt me, who are you? AHHHHHHHHH…’

EXT.OLD TRAIN STATION.GETTING DARK (2)

We open in an aged train station – one which AMBER had frequently used throughout her life. The train station crammed full of people needing to get home. The same specific reasons for AMBER. AMBER is waiting alone for her friend, who is soon to arrive. The weather is damp and cold, and as the trains begin to approach and the passengers begin to leave. AMBER is left alone, no sign of her friend arriving. AMBER receives a text from her friend revealing ‘I’m coming’ the text therefore reassures AMBER and starts to feel more relaxed.
We then cut to a point of view shot of AMBER revealing the text. AMBER then looks up to reveal she infact isn’t alone. A dark mysterious character is on the other side of the platform. AMBER anonymous to this does not think anything of it and watches the train going straight through to London approach, when the train has gone past. The dark figure has disappeared. We then cut to mid shot revealing AMBER’s facial expression, shocked as the figure had disappeared, innocently AMBER assumes the best and shrugs her shoulders and continues to text her friend. A long shot revealing the mysterious character has appeared on the same side of the platform as AMBER. As the character approaches the shots become darker, and quicker. And finally cut to a shot of amber. We place a voice over of amber ‘gasping’ with fright.



(AMBER)

‘UHHHH…’

Possible Target Market/Audience

Character profile

As a group, we was intrigued to know about our targeted audience. we have chosen to give our film the '15' certificate aiming at age fifthteen and up. i have decided to ask two teenagers about themselves, what they like and there personality, i will also include questions about horror films, and specifically looking at our short horror opening. This will enable me to know what the audience likes, and if they will like our short horror opening.

Name: Eresha Fernando
Age: 16 years old
Current location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire
Current Position: 6th Form Studies, at the Knights Templar School
Subjects Studying: Chemistry
Main Focus: Chemistry
Part Time Job: None.
University: Edinburgh
Ideal Job: Doctor
Interests: Dancing and music

'Hi Eresha, thankyou for taking part in this interview today'
'Thats ok'
'I'm going to ask you some questions, i need you to please answer them to the best of your ability'
'Thats fine'
'So Eresha, do you like films?'
'I'm not your typical movie lover, i try to focus more on my studies, but when i have some spa time, i would spend some of my time watching movies'
'Ok, when you was to watch a movie, what time of genre would you watch?'
'I would mainly watch comedies or romantic comedies'
'Would you ever consider horror movies?'
'I'm not that keen on horror movies'
'So, you would never pick a horror movie?'
'No, but if i was to catch a glimpse of some, i like the adrenaline rush'
'Ok, what do you dislike about them?'
'I don't like the blood or gore aspect, as a typical girl.. its scares me'
'Ok, I'm going to show you a short clip of a horror opening, if you don't mind watching'
'Not at all, it just better not scare me!'

(watching the short clip)

'Would you like to watch more of this horror?'
'Yes, it looks intriguing, i prefer the more psychological horrors'
'What did you like about it?'
'Really scary, makes you want to know more about what happened previously, i like how the music makes it so scary and adds to the tension'
'Our horror opening is considered more arthouse than traditional would you agree?'
'Yes Defo, as it doesnt follow a traditional horror'
'Okay, thankyou Eresha for your time'

Name: Jake Giacobelli
Age: 18 years old
Current location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire
Current Position: 6th Form Studies, at the Highfield School
Subjects Studying: Business Studies, Maths and Product Design.
Main Focus: Business Studies
Part Time Job: Cleaner -  North Herfordshire Homes.
University: Herfordshire
Ideal Job: Business Manager
Interests: My Girlfriend, Friends, Going out

'Hi Jake, thankyou for taking part in this interview today'
'Thats alrighttt'
'I'm going to ask you some questions, i need you to please answer them to the best of your ability'
'Ok'
'So Jake, do you like films?'
'Yeah, i love films, most of my time is taken up watching films'
'Ok, when you was to watch a movie, what time of genre would you watch?
'Anything that looks really good'
'Would you ever consider horror movies?'
'Yeah, if it looks good'
'So, you would never pick a horror movie?'
'No, but if it looked good then id give it a go'
'Ok, what do you dislike about them?'
'I don't like the blood or gore'
'Ok, I'm going to show you a short clip of a horror opening, if you don't mind watching'
'Ok'

(watching the short clip)

'Would you like to watch more of this horror?'
'Yeah, looks decent i prefer the more psychological horrors'
'What did you like about it?'
'Makes you want to know more about what happened previously, i like how the music adds more tension'
'Our horror opening is considered more arthouse than traditional would you agree?'
'Urrrrm, yeah i suppose'
'Okay, thankyou Jake for your time'


i also did questionnaires asking the same questions as i did for the interviews, from the information i received, i came up with the conclusion that, 59% of the people i asked, wouldn't normally watch a horror, which left the other 41% would normally watch horror. 14% of the people that would normally watch horror liked the blood and gore aspect and loosing of the limbs, most of them associated it as 'halarious as its not real' the further 45% like the psychological horrors, as they like the aspect of the director playing with there minds. After i showed the 41% of people that wouldn't normally watched horrors, the short horror opening most of them replied they really enjoyed it and wasn't too spooked out, most of them agreed they wanted to watch more! the minority said they wouldn't watch it because, it still scared them and don't like the feeling of anticipation. from these results, i am aware that our group took on a different aspect to horror, looking at the more art house effect, playing with the audiences mind, this meant that as a production company, we have changed and revitalised the 'horror' genre. as a production company we didn't want to portray the typical horror, so we took on a bigger job of confusing and disorientating the audiences view, leaving them uneasy and uncomfortable. overall as a group, i am very happy with the outcome, and the risk of changing from a typical horror paid off, overall the audience agreed, as a production company we took a different aspect of a horror and changed it for the better, therefore by getting the audience on our side, if we was to produce the opening, and make it into a film, i am confident that the film, would be very popular.

 I then wanted to know more about why people are scared of horrors, as myself are not very keen on them, they don't give myself a adrenaline rush, i would just be hiding behind my duvet as a protector. what horrors or more scary blood and gore or psychological, if you think about it, blood and gore is set up for entertainment, as the audience you feel as if you are in there position and therefore sympathise, whereas in a psychological horror, it plays with your mind, and typically these are where nightmares come from, it is more realistic for a psychological horror to freak you out more, but then why would you pick a psychological over a gore? well many people are not good with blood, and therefore automatically choose the psychological, but the pyshcological horrors are more twisted and confusing, then from this the audience would typically not choose to watch a horror again as 'blood and gore' must be even worse, some horrors are directed to be comical and mocking, but as a audience, this isn't portrayed.

Final task storyboard

Here is our inital storyboard:

we arrived at the train station ready to go! we switched on the camera, and made the same mistake as we did for our preliminary task. the camera had run out of battery! we didn't know what to do, we had made sure the lighting was correct, and the platform was empty. we decided to take advantage of the empty platform, and would stage our scenes but take pictures of them to see what effect they had for example; lighting etc. by doing this, it enabled us to know what specific time period we had to get the shot done as quickly as possible. we also found out when the train we wanted to feature in the film, would arrive at the station and which time the scheduled train was to arrive and stop at baldock train station. Yes this was not the plan, but this has benefited us a lot, as this would save us time and footage when we would re-schedule the filming.

Here is an extreme long-shot from George standing underneath a lamp, the use of the lamps adds tension to the shot. the lighting here isn't perfect - we should get this shot later on in the evening. when editing we should make the shot darker if this isn't possible as the light is shining from the doorway and takes the focus of the character, which isn't that visible as it is because of the distance.

Here is a mid-shot revealing George, again we should get this shot later on in the evening as this isn't good lighting. if this isn't possible then we should darken the shot. the sunset in the background looks effective as this would resemble the idea that time is running out.

Here is a mid shot of myself, the use of the side view could resemble the point of view of George. the lighting here is perfect as this was later on in the evening. we should darken the shot at the back, as there is to much light. we wanted to give off the impression of the girl in the dark (unaware what is going to happen).

Here is a point of view shot from myself looking at my phone. The use of using the latest technology 'iphone' suggest her social status.

Here is a extreme close-up of George, i wouldn't want to use this shot as i feel it reveals to much about the character George is playing 'the follower' the use of the red lighting coming across the shot reflects his evil personality.

Evaulation of preliminary task

 We looked at two other groups preliminary task's and evaluated them using mise-en-scene, editing, sounds and camera angles.

Akshay, Emma, Catherine & Georgia:


the use of the mid and long shot suggest the struggle the character is feeling, the diegetic sound of the  creaking of the old building signifies its age and uncomfortable nature. The diegetic earie music suggests anticipation and creating suspense. The use of the jump cuts leaves the audience feeling confused and uses the conventions of horror, this is for showed through the mixture of non-diegetic and diegetic sounds. the ark ward positioning the character is placed in is taken from Hitchcock and the canted angle implies the disorientation - the use creates a witness - the audience feel as if we know something we shouldn't. the typical covention of horror 'the light flickering' is a sign to scare the audience. the connotation of red implies evil/danger approaching. The eyes of the wall - imply that someone is watching - scary.

Daryl, Hannah, Luke & Abbie:


the diegetic sounds of the footstep implies someone/something is coming closer, the diegetic sound of the door creaking symbolises the old building - history behind? this mirrors the ending (sollum beat). the barrier is placed to make the audience feel as if they and the charcter are isolated from the situation and foreshows the character is isolated/will not leave the room. the use of the point of view shot reveals the villian. the door is closed this make the audience feel as if they are being locked out. The use of the shaking of the camera could imply the nervous character - disorienation - something not right. The use of the over the shoulder shot implies the weakness the character is compared to the dominent villian. the slow motion implies somethings not quite right - we sympahise with the character. the low angle shot of abbie (the villian) show the control of the character. the extreme close-up shot revealing the bright blue eyes could symbolically represent the innocence.

We also looked in what worked well and what didnt work well with our preliminary task-

What worked well?

· The way we positioned the camera in the opening shot worked well, the sunlight from the establishing shot from above the buildings worked well with the idea of the contrast between the establishing shot panning into a close-up shot of the entrance into the school. The idea we came up with was with the calm atmosphere contrasting with the editing techniques we are going to use. We are going to use sharp editing movements to contrast.

· The scenes we decided to use worked well as they were within distance of each other for example, the entrance we zoomed into, lead to the corridor we was going to use, and the boys toilets and classroom, were right next to each other, with the corridor in-between.

· The more we practised with the camera and the camera angles we were going to use. The more we practised the better we got, for example we was doing a point of view shot and looking across and then up to reveal the person. This took some practise but when we worked efficiently it worked really well.

· We managed to finish the whole task in one hour, which included all the different perspefic shots because of all the different techniques we wanted to us this meant the more time consuming it was.

What didn’t work well?

· We didn’t block off the specific areas we wanted to work within, so because we filmed it in a working school, students and teachers constantly interrupted and we had to start the filming over and over again.

· Our camera eventually ran out of battery and it was hard to reset the scene to how it was because in-between the camera being charged, students had been in the room, and messed it up. We had to look at the footage and reset it from that, this was not the ideal way. But we didn’t think to check the camera and see how much battery there was. Because this has happened in the preliminary task, we will make sure the same mistakes will not be remade when making our horror film.

· We did not use specific clothing for what we wanted, and therefore we had to make do with what we had. For example one of our actors was wearing a ring, this was not used to represent something, but in our horror, we could us such a prop to represent something.

Evaluation of preliminary task.

what was my role?

- within my group we all did abit of everything as this was the first time we had experimented with recording equipment, we shortly realised that we all had different talents with Ben & Ellie taking the lead with the directing while Myself and George was featured in the preliminary task. We all had our chance to do some directing and putting our own input into what we personally thought would look better and how we could improve it. when it came to editing; we all had a go, but Myself and Ellie took the lead of editing as we all had stronger parts. when it came to deciding on what cheesy music we was to put into the prelim i suggested the latest hit 'what makes you beautiful' but one direction - this was a very popular song and was specifically aimed at our age group. we thought that George could take on the role of one of the boys from the group and show the confidence they have. this would provide us with an entertaining comical piece of media. when it came to the location we all decided that the best place would be the old part of the school, where there was the boys toilets next to a classroom, which had a spaced hallway where it would enable us to film. when film we deciding to include some vital pieces which could let the audience think into deeper meaning including the boys sign and the posting saying 'living the dream'.

what worked well?

- i feel everything in our preliminary task worked well, there were many strenghs including we all agreed that the location was very good - it enabled us not to travel far as it was closely together. the timing where we filmed the prelim was perfect. it was a cold bitter morning but the sun was shining and this enabled us to come up with the establishing shot. we got out first scene by fluke when we decided we wanted to capture the majority of the shot types and angles. we walked outside and the sun captured our attention. the reason why Ben is walking out of the door is because when deciding where we wanted to start our pan two girls walked out, we thought this looked effective and made the shot more exciting then just panning round to a empty door. the use of the jump cut we placed from the establishing shot to the close-up shot in the boys toilet created the idea of disorientation and automatically confuses but draws the audience in. when it came to editing the piece. the music fit correctly and mirrored what George was doing. when we was filming we managed to keep the toilets, the hallway and the classroom relatively clear, this enabled us to carry on without any distractions.


what didn't work well?
- there was only a couple of weakness and that was when we got out flip cam from the library the battery was only half full, we didn't think anything of this was we thought we only had to do a couple of scenes, it will be fine. when we started to film the prelim we decided against many scenes and decided to re film them, this caused us to loose all the battery. we had no choice but to leave the room, when we came back the boys in the background had disappeared and the books had been moved, we tried our hardest to reposition the books but we knew that because the boys had moved, this would cause a continuentity problem, we knew this would be ok, as long as we declared we had made a mistake. we also edited our prelim on windows movie maker, we thought at first this is fine, this is better than on final cut on the macs, as we was not experienced within them. but we decided after hours of editing, and trying to make the film into a movie, that for our final task we would defiantly be using final cut.



First ideas; BEGA productions

We had to decide on a name for our production company. we have had no experience in this so we were clueless what would capture the audiences eye and allow them to remember us. we decided to incorporate all our names into our production company to make it a easier decision. we came up with BEGA productions. at first we had alot of negative feedback about our name, as it resembles a begger. but we overcome them negatives as you can pronounce it in a different way. we decided to pick a logo that would resemble our final task.

we first had to think about as a production company what would we want from it and how would we present ourselves we made a mind map including everything we needed to think about including;
what ideas do we have,sounds - who would do it/create them - sources, what type of films would our production company produce?, who would be our specific audience? - we need to be careful at who we are specifically aiming at, how does it fit in with our horror/thriller?, funny or entertaining? family orientated?comedy/romance genre? target audience - do we fit it? what is our name?, does our logo follow through to the film?, have we/or will be incorporate a specific character?,make sure the music shown reflects on the name of the production company, could we change it to the specific genres if needed to?, magical or enchantment?, how do we wants to represent ourselves? location,light and setting

and also how could we change the logo to fit the specific genres?
magical or serious, change of font and colour, as a company are we represented well?, anything that could be improved?, longer or shorter, does it fit the genre correctly?, audience reception, change of music

First Ideas:

this is one of our first ideas for our logo; including our production company name; BEGA productions. i really like the statement of this font (sans sari ff), it produces a formal front, but has a bit of fun as we have included capital letters for 'BEGA' as this is the main focus as its all our names. I'm really happy with this font, but i would like to experiment with others.

this is the second idea we came up with for our logo, again keeping with the capital letters for the 'BEGA' but i think this font is to boring and dull for a logo for our production company, it doesn't present our film very well, so therefore i wouldn't consider this one.

i still feel as if this font is too plain for our production company, i think as a production company we need to go more traditional towards horror or completely different, i do like how 'BEGA' is seen to be bigger than 'productions' but again its not quite right for what we are looking for, so therefore i wouldn't choose this font.

i still feel as if this is too boring, and doesn't attract the attention to the viewers, it doesn't shout formal or serious, so therefore this would not be an appropriate font for our production company.

i really like this font, this would be a really fun and cool font, but i feel as if the font doesnt portray our production company, as the theme was horror we should choose a horror or historical font. therefore we would not choose this font either.

i really like this font, here we have decided to go down the more formal, and historical font. im not keen on the way 'BEGA' i wrote, so therefore this font would not be the font we will choose. but we are getting closer to what we would want.

to me, this looks like a typicl font that would be used for a production company, its fun and different but again we wouldnt choose this font as it doesnt fit the theme we want to portray for our production company.

this font, as well would look like a different and cool production company font, its different and plays on edge with our film, we have considered this font, but we want to go for a more ancient looking font, now we have done our research.

the font as a production company have decided to go for is a traditional ancent font, i feel that this font portrays our company very well, and the picture we have placed with it, specifically fits our opening to our horror movie. we have decided as a production company both the font and picture will be changed, to specifically fit the genre of the movie we would produce next. (this is shown below)

i am really happy with the design George and Ben came up with, as they took control on the design aspect, we all decided on a brief of 'classy, but to the point' we wanted to portray a serious message. i feel as if they kept to the brief well, but including personal touches, for example the lonely character reflecting 'Amber' we wanted to produce a logo that would fit with other genres. to be honest the logo is quite specific to what it could fit, but it could be also used again, we belive that for a different genre, the logo could be slightly changed, for example; to fit the film perfectly. we would like to keep the font 'BEGA productions' in the same font, as we would copyright the name, and format. i believe that our logo isn't gender orientated as if doesn't show any specific gender, again this could fit with a different story line. we decided as a group that we would also keep to the black and white colour scheme, as we did with 'Mind The Gap' which shows our name of our horror opening. we decided that we would place this in black and white along with 'Mind The Gap' as when we experimented with our preliminary task, we liked the contrast. i believe it could symbolically suggest loneliness, vulnerability and the feelings of the audience.



Looking at different screenshots from preliminary task

i have decided to have a look through our preliminary task and pick out specific screen shots and analyse them using; mise-en-scene, camera angels, editing and sounds.

The use of of the pan shot here suggest setting the scene -  as it reveals the school, from this establishing shot we get a sense of freedom but with a childhood twist. we decided to use a black and white theme as we though it fitted the typical old romantic comedy's, this portrayed through the music played (one direction-what makes you beautiful) the connotation of colour is observant as the buildings are dark and the sky is bright - this could influence 'George's' personality and ego, reflecting 'the Sky's the limit' we used an establishing shot from this specific angle, as the shot is full of the trees and buildings this could symbolise isolation and an underlying uncomfortable tone - this reflects how 'Amber' is feeling. the buildings are also seen to be trapping the light this could suggest escapism. The day looks as if the sun is rising this could symbolically suggest that its a new day - reflecting a new person/or new hope. we haven't included any sound.

Here is an extreme close-up shot revealing an entrance to the school. one of the doors is open and suggest that the school is warm and inviting. the shot shows windows and a door - the door is open but the windows are shot this shows the contradiction between being free and isolated. inside the door - it is in complete darkness this could suggest by entering the building is entering the unknown. this shot by itself looks victimising and automatically portrays the audience as vulnerable. again we kept with the black and white colour scheme, to portray a old speakie. we haven't included any sound again.

we then cut to a extreme close-up of George in the male toilets, flushing the toilet. the harsh contrast between the black blazer and the white toilet suggest bad v.s good. we have included the harsh diegetic sound of the toilet to emphasise the actions the actor is taking. this shot reflects the ending of the piece. we have included this to reflect a sense of foreboding - flushing something bad away - suggest the end, as the girl rejects him.

we then cut to a extreme close-up of George still in the male toilets, washing hands. the harsh contrast again between the blazer and the white sink could symbolise a sense of foreboding. we have also included the sharp diegetic sound of George washing his hands, this again emphases the actions the actor is taking. the idea of the character washing his hands could suggets her is washing something away.

the camera again cuts to a extreme close-up of George in the male toliets, dryimg his hands under a dryer. His hands take up most of the room in the shot, and therefore could suggest that this is the main focus, i like the idea that you can tell alot from someone's hands. his hands look well looked after and clean, as you can tell from the previous shot. this could suggest he is a well groomed charcter, this is reinforced, as the character is dressed in a suit.

the camera cuts to a mid shot revealing a door, this could suggest isolation, George is not in the shot but then walks into the frame. this could suggest his personality (nothing bothers him) we still havent got a glimpse of his face, and have only just established that he is a female, as by not revealing any facial features it doesnt show any gender specific.

camera cuts to a extreme close-up of george, we now have been introduced to his face. this makes the frame more personal. the door and the sign is the main focus in the frame, with george only taking up a small amount. the signs shows a specific gender and therefore reinforces his gender.

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we were given a task to complete within my group of Ellie Fletcher, Ben Bowen, George Jackson;

Subject A entering a room through a door. Inside Subject B is sitting down, as Subject A enters the room they pass a piece of paper to Subject B, Subject B reads the piece of paper and shows a reaction and leaves the room.

Here is our inital storyboard for our preliminary task:

Here is a link to our finished Piece for our preliminary Task:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsRI215dH7c

for our preliminary task we decided to our piece as a comedy, we decided upon a comedy as we were aware that our main task was going to be on horror. We decided against doing a horror for our prelim as we wanted to experiment with different camera techniques and how we could portray specific views. with our prelim it gave us all a opportunity to direct, edit and even perform. By doing the preliminary task it enabled us to  play around with sounds, editing, camera angles to create an effective piece.

when choosing our camera shots and angles, we wanted to create a peice exploring them all. so we started our with a typical establishing shot revealing the location then we zoomed in revealing ben leaving the building. we then cut to a extreme close-up shot of george pulling the chain of the toilet. we used diegetic sounds here to enhance the action. we then cut to another shot of george washing his hands in the sink, we also continued with the diegetic sounds. We then moved on to a extreme close-up of george drying his hands under a hand-dryer. we then cut of a mid shot revealing a door and george opening the door and walking out. we then jump cut to a close-up shot of george's face walking out of the toilets. Here we done two seperate shots of george showing two seperate emotions, a happy and cheesy smile and then a serious and controlled facial expressions. We decided to use the smiley expression as we thought it mirrored the light hearted tone we was trying to explore within. We choose to include the male sign into the shot as we thought it showed a significance of the gender of the character.We then placed a dissolve revealing my hand taping inpatientantly.We continue with a jump cut of george walking through a hall way as ellie enters, george checks ellie out and loses his balance as he is mesmorized by her beauty. we placed a over exaggereated stumble here to reflect the light hearted tone of being in love. George then regains his balance as we placed a point of view shot revealing myself. We placed a heart dissolve editing technique to over exaggerate the theme of our peice. we then cut to a point of view shot of myself looking up and revealing george 'acting cool'. we then cut to the shot to a two shot of myself and george, george reaches into his pocket to reveal a peice of paper, george passes the peice of paper to me, we then cut to a over the shoulder shot of myself reavealing the peice of paper 'Hey' the camera is cut to a extreme close-up of myself revealing my expression of not intrested and throw the peice of paper back at george. George is taken back by the rejection and acts truely gutted. George walks out of the room, upset. we then cut to a long shot of myself and george. as george walks further away from the camera, toliet paper is revealed on his shoe and this is the soul reason for his rejection. we decided to place the song 'what makes you beautiful' by one direction into our piece as we thought it reflected the light heartness perfectly well.

Research Into Production Companies

is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totalling more than $100 million each. It was founded on October 12th 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenbery & David Geffen. The DreamWorks logo features a young boy sitting on a crescent moon while fishing. The general idea for the logo was the brainchild of company co-founder Steven Spielberg,The music accompanying the logo to start live-action DreamWorks movies was specially composed by John Williams (although a number of DreamWorks films, such as Galaxy Quest and Saving Private Ryan, omit the music); the DreamWorks Animation logo has music from the Harry Gregson-Williams/John Powell score for Shrek. The main logo shows the scene at night, while the DreamWorks Animation logo shows it during the day.

Dreamworks teamed up with Paramount to produce 'Paranormal Activity' The film opened on September 25, 2009, to 12 theaters taking $36,146 on its opening day and $77,873 on its first weekend for an average of $6,489 per venue. It took more success when it opened to 33 theaters on October 1, 2009, doubling the box office reception, grossing $532,242 for an average of $16,129 per venue, bringing the 10-day total to $776,763.

Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies – and in later years, television series. During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was due, in part, to distribution partnerships with major United States studios, such as Warner Bros. After not producing anything for the past thirty years, hammer returned with the film 'Let Me In' in 2010. 'A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.' It was announced on August 17, 2010, that Let Me In would have its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2010,and its U.S. premiere on the opening night of Fantastic Fest on September 23, 2010.Overture Films released promotional items placed in small plastic evidence bags.With a budget estimated to be $20 million, the film was released on October 1, 2010, in North America opening at #8 on its debut weekend with an estimated $5.1 million in 2,020 theaters.The film's international release began on October 6 in European markets with other markets following thereafter.During the film's 10-week theatrical run, Let Me In grossed over $24 million worldwide, $12.1 million of which was from the United States and Canada. The film was #5 among the ten lowest-grossing releases of 2010 from major studios (movies released in over 1500 theaters).

more on pyscho

Psycho is a 1960s American film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock was a British film directer and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres.

The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name from Robert Bloch. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary (Marion Crane) hiding at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer. The motels disturbed owner and manager (Norman Bates) and the aftermath of their encounter.

Main plot - in Phoenix, Arizona, discreet lovers Marion Crane and Sam Loomis want to marry, but cannot. as Sam is in heavy debt. unhappy and desperate to improve their situation, marion steals the $40,000 in caseh from her office and begins to drive towards sams home in california. Along the way she trades her car for another car after he anxious behaviour arouses suspicion from a highway police officer, and others. The following night marion pulls into the bates motel, a twelve cabin lodging located off the main road with no other guests present. Marion meet the owner, Norman who lives in the big, main house with himself and his mother. From Marion's room, she overhears an arguement between the two of which she accuses Norman of creating an affair. Instead Marion and Norman eat in the office, here Norman explains that dispite his mothers abuse he refuses to abandon her as she is unable to care for herself. Marion decides to return to pheonix and return the money and to accept all consequences. Marion exuses herself from the room, and goes to undress, while Norman secretly watches before running to the house.

Here i have anaylsed all the differerent scenes we have watched of 'Psycho' and placed all the finding i have come up with into mise-en-scene, camera angles, editimg and sounds.

HITCHCOCK’S ‘PYSCHO’

    MISE-EN-SCENE

• Blinds are close – could resemble the secrets kept or the privacy exposed and exploring the idea of its not reality.
• It is set in phoenix – Arizona.
• The window is half open – typical of Hitchcock to hide as much away from the viewer as possible.
• The contrast between Marion wearing white clothing and then when she is on the run she is wearing darker clothing this could resemble the innocence of her before she stole the money compared to now with her guilty condense.
• The police man is wearing glasses – could resemble the idea of him hiding his identity and not revealing who he is.
• Vulnerable/scared Marion – change of breathing (panting and panicking).
• Lighting – the man in white (sales man) and the contract between her in the shadow (Marion) shows the innocence and the guiltiness of the characters.

• Idea of bad vs. good.
• The use of the rain implies that she is portrayed as chaotic – blurred vision.
• The motel owner goes to select the 3^rd key, the down to the 2^nd and the chooses the 1^st. the idea that the use of 3 is a unlucky number and then he moves along to the 2^nd number and 2 is a even number and could resemble the idea of being lucky. And then moves to the first one as ‘it’s the closest’ this idea could be the idea of a countdown (3,2,1) of how long Marion has got.
• Candles – symbolic for the time. And could suggest a countdown as when the candle will eventually burn out.
• The stuffed birds over looking, - already dead.
• The light reflects the innocence of her and the darkness reflects the evil within him.
• The old pictures (reactance) of naked women resemble his fascination with Marion.
• Norman is the sinister one – mise-en-scene presents this.
• Mum is harmless – referred to as a stuffed bird.
• Norman is taken back – offended.
• The use of the bird shot – showing the wings covering the light is reflecting him as a predator.
• The book is open – this could show his intelligence and how he looks so innocent and vulnerable – always one step ahead.
• Marion’s last name is crane – she signed the book in the motel as ‘Samuels’ a crane is a bird and therefore suggest that she is going to be the predator for Norman.
• The use of the show scene – makes us feel uncomfortable – shower is a personal place – intruding upon her.
• The shadow of the background on the tiles could suggest the foreshadowing that is going to happen.
• Light and dark contrast – outlining the murder.
• Blackout – to suddenly the light appearing near Norman could symbolise his innocence.
• There are moments of Norman looking submissive.
• Controlled – methodical not a moment of panic worrying Norman.
• The use of the lighting contrast between the light and the dark.
• The light and the dark shadowing the detective could symbolise his innocence and his dark side.
• Panicle tone – worrying and is no longer in control.
• Light flickering reflecting on his face – showing him being in and out of control.
• Mother is confide in the house and Marion is dead – a constant battle (power struggle) between the male and female (he is trying to sustain a dominant role.
• Verbal spiring – two men – the dective is winning and Norman is stuttering.
• Insecurity – police is more dominant.
• Half of the detectives face is in light and dark – showing personality.
• The owl behind Marion could symbolise the bird always watching her.
• Opening of the door – light showing hope – contradiction.
• Norman constantly chews – sign of nerves.
• Lace curtains – soft – family man.
• Norman constantly wears dark colours – wearing white – subliminal message for Hitchcock that something is going to change.
• Light in bathroom – where Marion died – religious connotations – heaven.
• Doorway – power struggle between Sam and Norman.
• Sam is closer to the camera – more in control.
• Nervous tone – tapping of the fingers.

  

CAMERA ANGLES                                

• The use of the two shot implies the intensity.
• The close up of the money reflects the idea of suspense, greed and temptation (going from mid-close up to close up to extreme close up.)
• The use of the pan across an angel shot of the open town and the landscape.
• Zoom into the hotel window – tilted and then moves into a straight shot to imply confusion.
• The use of the zoom into the dark places now reveals the interior of the room.
• The idea of someone is watching her/them is from her point of view and allows the feeling of chaos and suspense.
• The use of the mid-close up, close-up to extreme-close up and the idea of getting closer and closer to her could symbolically suggest the idea of the closer to Marion/them being found out.
• View from over Marion’s shoulder could represent the tension.
• The use of the over should shot with the sales man could symbolically show that when you are in vision with her face her background is dark, closed in and cramped this could suggest that she is trapped. The idea of the sales mans over the shoulder shot contrasts as his is open, light and this could suggest his freedom.
• The close-up and confidence of Marion shows she is in control and then the change of atmosphere creates chaos as the rain takes the power away from her.
• Moving closer towards Marion – resembles his prey.
• The swap of the camera angles between the convosation – was relaxed.
• Medium shot – now a difficult convosation.
• The use of the low angle shot – influences the idea of her in control – making her believe.
• From his POV – her undressing this makes us uncomfortable as if we are the murderer.
• The use of us watching him – antagonist.
• The use of the long shot of Norman and the barrier around it makes us as an audience uncomfortable.
• The camera is following the blood down the drain this could be symbolic for her life fading away.
• The use of the medium shot influences the idea that her being in the shower – it’s a personal place and we feel as if we are intruding.
• Extreme close-up – terror and the closing in even closer.
• The use of the low angle shot of the killer/showing the water running in front of it.
• Vulnerable shot of her curled up – uncomfortable (birds eye)
• Titled angle – not showing us.
• Awkward – not aware what he is doing.
• Could resemble his mind – confusion.
• His point of view – we are the witnesses.
• Zoomed in view of mid shot – in control.
• Extreme close-up – detective is on the case to find Marion.
• Camera angels show him as a worm eye view – in control and continue to stay there for a while.
• Uncomfortable putting us in that situation.
• Medium shot – Norman moving into a dissolve.
• He smirks –resembling he has got away with it – fooled.
• Right hand of screen – light brightens.
• Awkward positioning – detective moving into a dissolve.
• The use of the camera angles makes us feel safer as we are aware that the inspector is onto Norman.
• Birds eye – both of par with each other.

EDITING  

• The use of the zooming into the window creates continuity.
• The reverse shot is used in the convocation of talking about marriage this could create the tense mood and chaotic atmosphere with the use of sharp movements.
• The long pauses in-between the shots suggest the comfort ability and the intermediate attraction.
• The cross cutting in-between the characters suggest the tension.
• The jump cut between the amount of time Marion has been in the car. The use of the jump shot is used as you wouldn’t show the whole car journey as it would create a boring atmosphere for the audience.
• The use of the four times Hitchcock’s placed the view of Marion in the mirror suggests she is always being watched.
• More of a tense quick cross cut – suspense.
• The closer the camera moves to the face and then the use of the 180 degree rule.
• The camera is shaking and therefore could suggest that no-one else Is there and therefore is from our perspective.
• The crow is constantly watching her even though she is lead to believe that she is in control.
• the quick contrast between the shots is uncomfortable from us and puts us as an audience of the edge.
• Moving of the camera – could symbolise foreshowing death.
• The cross cutting between the scenes symbolising the uncertainty.
• The use of the door being flung open and then the shadow of the killer becomes clearer. The use of pan here suggests that she is going to be murdered.
• Half of her fingers are not in the screen – not whole. She is dying.
• The position of her is not central in the shot – disorientation and the idea of us invading her space.
• The use of the dissolve from the plug-hole to her eye could suggest the idea of voyeurism – we are therefore placed into Normans position – as if we are watching her.
• Transition between the shots – showing the religion and death.
• The use of the dissolve resembles him being powerless.
• Cross cutting – bates is more vulnerable.
• Positions us as a audience as more in control – as we are aware what is going to happen – change for Hitchcock normally places us as the witness.

SOUND

• The opening opens with non-diegetic sounds the use of the sharp sounds suggest the horror/thriller action.
• The mirror of the sounds accompanies the stabbing motion of the death of Marion.
• Sam opening blinds- the use of the sharp dramatic sounds.
• Her mind is playing with her as she can her the non-diegetic sounds of her mind trying to convey what is going to happen.
• The use of the rain conveys a diegetic sound – harsh – over powering.
• Non-diegetic sounds – as Marion mentions the mental institute – Norman is offended.
• The sound speeds up – this mirrors the feeling of that something is wrong.
• Mix of non-diegetic and diegetic sounds – resembling the confusion – reality?
• The ‘duh dun’ sound slows down this could suggest that this is heartbeat – slowing down as she is dying.
• Non-diegetic – instrumental does not relate to what is happening. – Uneasy.
• Diegetic – swallowing up Marion’s body – hungry.
• Non-diegetic showing his worry.
• Non-diegetic – harsh sound and then switch to the diegetic sound of him being stabbed.