Group: 28/2/12

In our lesson on the 28th February, we continued our planning process of our opening. 

Whilst Alex uploaded our clips from Wilderness Woods and edited them together, I began to storyboard the types of shots and transitions between these shots that we wanted to include in our film opening. Meanwhile, Dan was testing out titles on a black background to see where it could be positioned on the screen and also testing out sizes of the title to see what looked most suitable. Despite all of us doing different tasks, we all consulted with each other and contributed to each aspect in order to all agree on the overall outcome.

Group: Wilderness Wood Evaluation

(Imbed link broken) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiMMfY09jMg&context=C4fc9ab2ADvjVQa1PpcFNu-U8vZhWjzcuhrE6aG9Cu4qhgK8-FJYk=



Where and when did we go?
We visited the Wilderness woods in Hadlow down. On the 7th of Febuary, it had previously snowed and was sunny too, making it interesting to shoot in.

What was the purpose?
We went on the reccie to learn how to use the equipment in more depth and also to get a taste of real shooting locations, what shots to use where and so on. This in turn helped us decide what shots and techniques we would use in our opening, which was part of our concept development.

What did we do?
We put together a series of scenes/shots which we were told to involve in order to gain better knowledge of using the filming equipment for example an extreme close up. We were also told we could use more specialist equipment such as the track, the dolly and the boom mic - also to gain further understanding of how filming works and how to film certain scenes.

What worked?
We found that the bright light and crisp sound really improved our shoot, the quality was extra clear because of this. We also thought that the use of slow pans and close ups worked well, it helped give the scenes a more natural and calm feel, despite there being no actual story to the footage we captured that day. Instead we just tested a range of different shots and concepts that we thought we could use in our opening, for example amateur and acted scenes but also actual static shots for example close ups and long shots etc. Doing this has helped us think more about what filming techniques we wanted to use in our opening.

What didnt work?

Apart from the fact that there was no actual structure or story to how we captured the clips, we couldn't fault the trip much. It would have been nice to get more footage purely so we could explore a variation of techniques further, and so that we could add more to the final cut/summary of the reccie. For future reccies we should have a plan to make it easier. Acting some scenes was probably the hardest part, however we have managed to touch this up with the editting, when filming our opening we must be sure to capture as much footage as possible, the more we have the better! 

Group: Title Slide

  Above is our title page, it is plain and subtle. We want to add a sort of lightening effect/flash effect to improve it however.

Group: Audience Feedback

We presented our pitch to an audience to receive feedback on what they thought about our ideas and if anything needs to be reconsidered in order to make our opening the best it can be. 

The audience brought our attention to the following aspects of our opening which may need to be rethought, such as:

• making the party atmosphere look realistic and not staged - we will combat this by using actors who are friends so can act natural and be familiar with each other to avoid any possible awkwardness in the piece, we will make it very relaxed and act as if it were actually a party.
• filming on two different days as certain circumstances are not guarranteed to stay the same, such as weather, costumes, hair, etc. - in order to make the opening look as if it were filmed on the same day, we will ensure that everything is the same right down to the last detail and make sure that our actors know this too, however, we will try and get all the filming done in one evening, but we know this will be very pressurizing. in response to the issue about weather on the two different days, we will set another provisional date in order for the weather to look the same throughout.
• getting good shots on a motorbike might be difficult and look amateur - rather than trying to achieve static shots on the motorbike, we will be using handicam as we feel that this will be very effective because the audience will be positioned with the characters; as if they are on the motorbike too, but we will ensure that the motorbike isn't going too fast, not only for health and safety but to also allow the audience to absorb the characters' surroundings.
• there is potential not to get enough shots in the opening due to the fact that quite a lot of it is the party and the audience may get bored if there is no variety - we will storyboard loads of possible shots that we can include in the party scenes in order to not bore our audience and to keep it interesting, we will also enhance this by keeping the editing pace reasonably fast between different shots.

Despite this feedback we received, we also got a few positive comments about our ideas:

• the use of the handicam at the party will be very effective and almost make the audience feel like they're actually there witnessing the party - we are pleased that our audience think this because it involves them more and it also ensures us that they will not get bored whilst watching it.
• the way the time and battery power etc., will be shown on the screen of the handicam will make the opening look more realistic - realism in our piece has been our aim and priority since the beginning of the project and it is encouraging to see that our audience notice that.

Group: Moodboard

Above is our moodboard, showing conventions of the amateur horror sub-genre that we have based our film around.

Group: Pitch evaluation

• In our pitch we used a clean and smooth running powerpoint presentation, that was easy to see and make use of for the audience.
• In the pitch we also used two trailers of films that were conventional of our opening, to give an example to the class of what kinds of techniques and shots we would be using.
• Our main obstacle we came across was the practicality of one of our scenes. When the lights turn off inside the house and the man is standing outside the window looking in. The problem we were told would be illuminating the man, in order to actually pick him up on camera. To combat this we decided we will put a torch beneath him out of sight in order to shed light onto the antagonist, hopefully solving the issue.
• Another possible issue we encountered would be transitions between different camera techniques - i.e. handicam and static shots. We decided that this could be solved by using titles for example "starring Alex Handschuh" to split up different shots.
• Next time we do a pitch it would be nice to have more audience research to rely on. This time we only had a limited number of participants due to only carrying out the survey over a short period of time. For future pitches we must make sure to have stronger audience research in order to identify audience's characterstics and preferences, and so that we can use this for our advantage.

Overall we believe our pitch was successful. The audience understood what we were trying to achieve with our opening and seemed impressed. Doing this pitch made us realise how difficult it must be in the real film industry to get people to fund and understand your film, how to make it work etc. We enjoyed putting it togethter and are also looking forward to filming our opening.

Group: First Film Shoot

We will start our filming on the first weekend of March - the 4th. We are renting a Sony HVR-AIE camcorder for a better quality picture. The actors we will be using will obviously be me (Dan) Alex, and Molly. We will then be using our friends Dylan and India as further actors, as well as Blake who will play the antagonist. The motorbike will be serviced ready for use on the Saturday and we will also plan another filming date for the following weekend to capture further footage. Giving us plenty of time afterwards in the weeks ahead to edit and perfect the opening.

MG: Opening Sequence Analysis

Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)

Link not found - DVD

Film Language: 

Mise-en-scene

• industrial location, conventional of a horror film, creates enigma as the audience are unsure if it will turn out the same as other horror films such as ‘One Missed Call' (Valette, 2008)
• the open window also creates enigma as you cannot see inside it, meaning the audience are left wondering what could be in there
• the stripes in the transitions between titles emphasise the meaning of the title ‘Psycho’ as it is very psychotic and almost threatening in a way, especially with the sound

Camera techniques

• the pans that are used set the scene and convey the industrialisation aspect of the film and they also allow us to take in the period that the film is set in and was made in as life was very different compared to how it is today
• the slow zoom into the window again creates enigma as the audience don’t know what is behind the glass and it draws them in more as they are being led closer to see what is inside

Sound

• the music is synchronous to the action: the titles and the transitions are in time with the music and is jumpy and again ‘psychotic’
• the music then slows down as it sets the scene, but it continues to build suspense and enigma with the strings instruments

Editing

• there is a fast pace of editing with the titles but, like with the music, it slows down when it starts to set the scene to allow to audience to fully take in what is being shown
• enigmatic fades are used for each cut to build tension

Representation and Ideology:

What social groups are being shown in this sequence and how?

• as it is set in an industrial location, social groups of all class and status’ are shown as there are low status jobs and high status jobs in the city, however, at this point in the film, we are unable to see if there is any conflict between the different classes

What values/beliefs/ideological discourse is evident?

• this opening sequence shows emergent ideologies as the dominant ideology of the beginning of the 1960’s was that women should cover up with dignity, however, in this film, behind the window is a woman in her underwear and a man with only his trousers on with her, which would be extremely shocking at the time to be publicly shown, the 1960’s was where the mini-skirt was introduced and ‘Psycho’ could have been part of the ignition of this revelation

Does it show characteristics of the genre?

• the enigma created from the camera techniques, the sound, the mise-en-scene and the editing, highlights conventional characteristics of a horror genre as the purpose of a horror film is to scare and shock people into believing things they never would’ve thought would happen

One Missed Call (Valette, 2008)

Link not found - DVD

Narrative:

How is the narrative organised and structured? 

• the narrative is structured from a little bit of dialogue, but also the ‘hustle and bustle’ and the screams in the soundtrack, the fast, panicky pace of the editing, and the simple use of camera techniques so the audience can really understand whats going on

How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?

• the audience are positioned to sympathise with the innocent little girl character as she is seen as the protagonist in this opening sequence
• the way she is holding a teddybear and is asked ‘where her mummy is’ reinforces this sympathy and also alienates her from the other characters

What are the major themes in the narrative?

• a massive building fire is obviously the ignition of the story of the film, creating enigma
• the way the little girl is separated from her mother and is lost and alone

How is tension created and maintained?

• from the techniques of camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene
• it is maintained by all of these techniques relating and tying in smoothly with one another and keeping a balance of them all, for example, where the zoom in is used on the girl grasping onto her teddy bear builds up tension and shows her insecurity

Media Audiences:

Who is the target audience?

• it is rated as a 15, so this is targeted at a large sector of the core audience

What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?

• to sympathise and feel sorry for the little girl who has lost her mother in the fire

How do you, as a British teenager, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background?

• I feel sympathy for the girl and for me, the situation she is in is very enigmatic as you don’t know what is going to happen next
• also, a convention of horror films that I have watched, such as 'The Children' (Shankland, 2008) is to have a vulnerable child as the antagonist, so this film could turn around quickly so I am also cautious to feel sympathy for her

Wolf Creek (Mclean, 2005)

Link not found - DVD

Genre:

To which genre does the film belong?

• Horror/Splatter film

To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre?

• the fact that at the very beginning, in white typewriter font on a black screen, it states that the film is a true story and it gives facts and figures about people going missing in Australia, fulfils audience’s hope in that the film will actually scare them as it is based on true events
• the way the music anchors the writing/action on screen adds to the tension and suspense and again will draw in the audience and fulfil their hope that it will scare them; this is also very conventional of horror films
• the first shot of the run-down car garage is very threatening and ominous and does not look professional or trustworthy in any way, meaning, again, the audience’s expectations of the film are fulfilled because they are satisfied with the enigma of not knowing what is going to happen next

Institutional Context:

Has a star been used in this film? Why is this important?

• an Australian actor who has starred in the popular Australian soap ‘Neighbours’ and various other TV programmes and films, stars in Wolf Creek, however, he is not well-known enough to create ‘buzz’ about the release of the film so will therefore have to rely on marketing and production values for it’s success

Which studio produced this film? Is it an ‘industrial’ or ‘independent’ film?

• Dimension Films distributed this film and is an industrial film company 
• However it was produced by a more independent production company called ‘Darclight Films’
• they had a budget of $1,000,000 and came out with a box-office figure of $27,762,648 worldwide

What strategies were used to market the film?

• This film was shown previously at film festivals before it was opened in 151 cinemas in Australia, which is how it managed to create so much ‘buzz’

Group: Survey

This is the survey we have put together to gain feedback from our target audience:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HGF9Z6N

Group: Treatment

We have decided to set it in an isolated house near some woods where a boy decides to have a small party when his parents are away. We will start the sequence with a handicam shot with everyone arriving at the house. Throughout the party, a female guest begins to think she can see something suspicious outside. This is laughed off and the party carries on as normal. The female guest continues to see suspicious movements and suspects that someone is outside the house. It will then cut to a static shot for a few seconds when suddenly the power shuts off. Then to a POV shot of a man outside watching the party whilst heavily breathing. The other guests immediately know that the girl was right and someone is watching the house. Two of the boys decide to go outside and take their motorbike into the woods to see if they can find the person who is watching them. The rest of the party guests are left at home worrying as they don't come back for some time. The screen then cuts to black. The boys return to find a wrecked room completely overturned with no one to be seen. They walk into another room and see something horrific, however, the audience will not know what this is as only their reaction is shown. The title will then come in on a black screen.

AH: Technical analysis.

The Ring (2002, Verbinski)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gIuCfnmPQg

Camera	Duration	Mise-en-scene
Begins with a slow moving pan shot of a woman, she moves from the right of the frame to the left (rule of thirds).	4 seconds.	In a typically middle-class house. She is wearing a white shirt. Lighting is imitating that of an ordinary kitchen light.
Cuts to a close-up of her face. Shows fear in her face, long take to emphasis her fear.	7 seconds.	Fear in her face. Lighting shows her face clearly with small background lighting.
A point of view shot slowly reveals the living room as if she is slowly peering around the corner. Building tension as more and more is revealed.	9 seconds.	The TV has been turned on, and shows a blank fuzzy screen (no signal).
Mid-shot of her looking at the living room and walking towards camera.	6 seconds.	Showing the confusion/fear on her face, then nervously blaming it on someone else.
Shot-reverse-shot of her picking up remote and switching TV off. Goes from close-up of remote to mid-shot of her to then TV switching off.	6 seconds.	She further shows how nervous she is, and how confused she is. Building tension.
Begins as a mid-shot of her, she walks towards kitchen turning it into a long shot. Then zooms in on her to convey her fear to the TV turning back on.	23 seconds.	The TV coming back on is shown through the reflection on a window to the kitchen.
Close-up of her face in front of TV then turns into a wipe pan to the windows of the kitchen.	8 seconds.	Again it emphasis the fear/confusion she is feeling and the dull lighting of the house (convention of horror films as inserts realism).
A point of view shot, she is seeing the fridge door open. One shot from the many to create continuity editing.	3 seconds.	Only a short shot, just to show why she is investigating the kitchen. The door slowly opens as if someone has opened it slightly.
A close up of the inside of the fridge door, she then comes into shot as she slams it shut.	14 seconds.	She frantically shuts the door and then pants as if she is out of breath and tired from her fear. She then hears something else down the corridor.
An establishing shot of the stairs (leading from corridor), the woman then comes into shot.	18 seconds.	She peers around the corner with fear; she then calls out for a friend (dialogue). Then she runs up the stairs to investigate further.
A worms-eye/low angle shot of her in the distance at top of stairs.	21 seconds.	There is some sort of liquid on the floor outside a door with lights on inside. The woman walks towards the room (camera) and steps into the liquid (probably blood).
Then a close up of her face as she opens door.	5 seconds.	She moves forward slowly as if to try and hear something first.
A close up of the handle as she opens the door.	1 second.	The handle is dripping with water.
Finally she opens door and a really quick zoom into her face. At first it shows TV with some sort of image on it.	5 seconds.	It’s as if the image on the TV has possessed her and her face changes and she becomes the one the audience are scared of.

DW: Technical analysis

Freddy Vs Jason (Yu, 2003)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mAiCcfEhc


Technique: Medium pan
Duration: 5 seconds
Comment: used to show some of the set and the furnace.

Technique: Close up
Duration: 3 seconds
Comment: Used to show unclean fire with childs toy being carelessy burnt.

Technique: Medium shot
Duration: 2 seconds
Comment: Used to briefly show innocent little girl hiding in the horrible building.

Technique: Long shot
Duration: 4 seconds
Comment: Used to display the tatty, dimly lit, dirty and creepy old set as well as the character with his back to us (creates tension)

Technique: Medium shot (small pan)
Duration: 4 seconds
Comment: Used to outline and highlight the dangerous weapon the character is wielding (iconography of the film).

Technique: Close up
Duration: 3 seconds
Comment: Used to show melting and destruction of the childs toy, destruction of innocence.

Technique: Medium shot
Duration: 2 seconds
Comment: Shows antagonist in the grotty surroundings, use of red to connote evil perhaps.

Technique: medium long shot
Duration: 7 seconds
Comment: Establishes contrast of innocent little girl with the dirty industrial set. Shadow on wall builds tension and anger for audience, iconography also of the knife glove.

Technique: Close up
Duration: 4 seconds
Comment: Used to show confirmed destruction of childs toy, and perhaps evidence of murder, turns ugly and deformed.

Question 2:
The soundtrack is exrtemely dark. Low and high piano notes are used at a slow pase to give a sense of mystery, low pitched violins are also used to add to the fear of the music. The sound is somewhat industrial and sinister, echos are also used to perhaps make it feel bizzare and like a dream (a large part of the film). It makes the listener somewhat scared and upset, especially with the addition of the narrative that ties in with the music.

Question 3:
Doing this technical analysis has made me realise that it is essential to have interesting scenes and shots that draw the viewer's attention. It is important to gauge audiences focus from the outset of the film and to do this you must make good use of opening content and sound too. I have also learnt that it is probably best to film each scene many times using from different angles and different shots, this way you can decide what looks best where when you edit the sequence - the more you shoot the better. That way you can make best use of the shots captured and therefore produce the best effect. This is important for opening sequences.

DW: Opening sequence analysis

(Post broken, cannot highlight words)

The silence of the lambs (Demme 1991)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sx08_OSXlY&feature=fvst

Film language:

• In this scene mise-en-scene provides with a sense of isolation and independency of the woman protagonist. She is alone in the foggy woods and has good physical endurance as we can see from the obstacles she crosses.
• Mise-en-scene also tells us a lot about where she works, the man has an FBI hat on showing the woman is involved with law enforcement hence why she is training. All other extras training are men which again enforces a sense of independence for the protagonist, also challenging the stereotype that women are weaker than men and are often in worse jobs.
• Towards the end of the initial scene both men and women police officers can be seen attending to weapons, perhaps showing this film also conforms to the dominant ideology of today’s society that genders are equal.
• The shots used are mostly long shots, with panning involved to show the surroundings I.e. what kind of establishment this woman is in, also shows that the office building contains high authority people in, juxtaposing with the assault course.
• Sounds such as extras talking within the building, and general common noise of a busy building creates verisimilitude for the clip. The soundtrack adds meaning to the running scene also - it is quite intriguing and fast paced, common with thrillers and horror films to add a sense of tension and mystery (reinforced by dark and foggy woods).
• The protagonist clearly has good physical endurance as we can see from her running everywhere and the sweat on her jumper, she does not struggle on the course and the signs describing pain shows us that the assault course is hard yet she copes with it. From what we see of her she is generally smiling, a woman says hello to her perhaps showing she is known and liked.
• The director uses zoom in the clip to isolate and pick out the protagonist from the crowd.

Representation & ideology:

• In the excerpt we can see men working alongside women, and also the idea that women physically cope just as well as men can - the protagonist sees no difficulty in running from place to place and overcoming obstacles. Thus enforcing a sense of equality from the inset.
• Again a sense of independence is represented by the woman character as she is on her own and the only other people training are all men in groups. Her costume makes her stand out from the rest of the people in the building. The clip shows that women can be just as powerful/achieve to the same level as men can in the police force. This discourse conforms with that of modern society.
• In lots of films the strong/heroic protagonist tends to be a man and in this case it is a woman, challenging the generic expectations. The woman is represented as strong and independent as we can see from the capture of her being mainly on her own.

28 days later (Boyle 2002)
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1VbxTx2uLQ

Media audiences:

• The target audience is likely to be the horror audience - of males between 15-24.
• The audience are likely to read the text as well filmed, good sense of verisimilitude created by all the “mobile phone” type and media clips of chaos and disorder from all over the world. Thus high production values and sense of realism
• To me the opening seems very real, as if the events have actually happened, I believe this is the preferred reading of the film. There have been quite a few films similar to this, I.e. end of the world, apocalypse type sub-genre and this opening seems to have captured a realistic account of what could happen and how. Although I do find the laboratory scene perhaps the opposite - quite unrealistic, if what was going on in the lab was extremely dangerous it would be very highly protected, kept secret etc. and it would not be so easy for a group of animal rights activists to break in in the first place. The oppositional reading could instead be that the film is ridiculous and it would never happen.

Institutional context:

• There doesn’t appear to be any well known stars in this film.
• This film was produced by Fox Atomic and the UK Film Council, it is an independent film and was directed by Danny Boyle.
• The film grossed over $28 million worldwide, had a website with all information, stills and trailers. It was distributed in Russia by 20^th Century Fox.
• For an independent film this movie has high production values within the opening scene. Especially with the nationwide violence scenes etc. It is quite uncommon to see independent films with a small budget to achieve good production values and sense of realism.

Dawn of the dead (Synder 2004)

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

 Genre:

• This film belongs to the horror genre (as we can tell from the conventions in the opening).
• The generic expectations of a horror film are fulfilled within the opening. There is a description of a deadly virus that will turn people into zombies (classic horror monsters) scenes of violence and gore and destruction, also conventional of horror films. Its fast paced and hard hitting. The opening is actually very similar to the movie above - 28 weeks later.
• There is plenty of action and horror style features within the opening for example fighting, death, gore, blood, tatty font and fast cutting rate etc. or in other words - iconography.
• The text conforms typically to the genre in that it utilises all the things above (which are conventional of horror films) in the opening sequence. Having said this the music to accompany the scene is quite upbeat in terms of how it sounds, however the lyrics are actually very saddening and depressing, which leads us to believe it may have been used ironically. With the help of the soundtrack the scene shows the deterioration of mankind.

Narrative:

• The narrative is constructed completely out of snippets of news reports which tell us what is/has happened/happening to the world and the danger it causes (reinforced by everything shown on screen).
• The audience are positioned to be able to understand what has gone on in the world and that basically mankind are under threat of extinction from a deadly virus.
• The music makes us feel alone and perhaps alienated, with the help of the shots on screen it creates a sense of helplessness and that mankind could one day perhaps be over run in this way, dialogue and filming has been done very realistically.
• The major themes of the narrative are that of conflict and worldwide destruction.
• There is little tension created from soundtrack or dialogue however from what we can see the events on screen seem less severe at first and appear to build up until the end where it is evident that human survivors are over run and there is little hope left at all. The small amount of tension is relieved at the end of the scene where the “media coverage” type shots come to an end and the music begins to quieten.