Main Task: Widows Creek

The Preliminary Task

The Preliminary Task Evaluation

Before filming our preliminary task, we had to take into consideration some fundamental rules to filmmaking. The first being the 180 degree rule. This is when the camera can only go anywhere on one side of the person. If it goes on the other side, then the viewer may believe the character has reversed positions and means they lose their bearings. There are some instances that the 180 degree rule can be broken, for example if we see the camera panning to the other side of the character, then we can acknowledge that the camera has moved and not the character.

We also included match on action in our preliminary task. This is when the same action occurs in another shot and the film is edited in a way that the action seems continuous. This is often used to focus on an object the actor is holding. In our film, our match on action was used when the phone number was dialed in the phone and also when the phone was taken out.

Another technique is the eyeline match, which is where a shot shows the actor looking at something and then the next shot is what they were looking at. We did not use this in our preliminary task though.

In our preliminary task, we replicated shots from the storyboard well. We found some very useful locations in the college that were relevant to the storyboard. However, we did have frequent issues with reflections in the outdoor shots, especially considering there are lots of windows in the college. There are some shots in the film where you can see people in the reflection, which we became aware of while editing and is something we need to take into consideration when we come to make our film. We had to consider the 180 degree rule during filming and kept to it. This was made easier though due to the minimal shots that contained more than one person.

In post production, we found Adobe Premiere to be very easy to use at first, with the razor tool being the most commonly used for us, in order to get our match on action shots to line up. We found it difficult at first with the timeline, as we did not know how to zoom in, but we found out quickly and the editing process was sped up considerably. However, we did have an issue at the end as we could not render the video. As we ran out of time, we were unable to add special effects and transitions so this is something we will hope to rectify when we move on to our film.

Evaluation Question 7: Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the final product?

Evaluation Question 6: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Filming

When filming, we used a combination of the Sony Handy-cam (3CCD) and the JVC Pro HD (3CCD).

JVC Pro HD

The majority of our filming was done with the JVC, as this had a manual focus that allowed us to perform the shots such as the one with the hand in the foreground and the killer in the background, as we could focus in on both. We were also allowed to alter the depth of field in the extreme close up of the victim in the flashback. We did this by standing far away and zooming into his hand, and when we got it in focus it further blurred the background and put all focus into it. This was done to emphasize the importance of the hand and the blood stain on it and make sure the viewer was not distracted by the background. I think the camera handled this really well and got the effect we were looking for. The camera also had a built in microphone that was really helpful in catching the ambient noises of the woods. Also, the handle made it easier to perform the tracking shots which were present in our film.

Sony Handy-cam

Because of a shortage of time, we were not able to film some of the flashback sequence on the same day as the rest of the film, so we had to do additional filming on a different day. We decided to film these shots using the Sony Handy-cam. This was a conscious decision because we wanted the extra mobility and didn't need to film that many shots to warrant carrying the JVC. Also, we did not require the manual focus feature that the other camera has. Because  the flashback shots have a directional blur to most of the shot, the quality difference would not be a problem.


We also used a voice recorder to record the sound for the flashback sequence. We wanted too give the effect that the sound in the flashback scene was cluttered and did this by overlapping the sound clips on different audio channels in Adobe Premier Pro. If we had more time, we would have tried to add an echo to the speech to further emphasize that this was a memory and that it was non-diegetic.

We did consider lighting in our film, however due to the restrictions on our surroundings, decided to correct it in post production. We used a tripod for the scenes in which the camera was stationary, but wanted to emphasize that the audience were part of the scene, so did as many tracking shots as possible, which were done handheld. We did find it difficult at times with the tripod, as the surface was not flat, however on the tripod was bubble leveler that helped to see if the tripod was level.

Software

For our editing software, we used Adobe Premiere Pro. This allowed us to import each media clip and cut it to form a sequence This process was made easy by the excellent layout of the program. We were able to trim shots down that were too long in order to retain the viewers attention. We were also allowed to add effects such as colour correction and directional blur to our film straight from Premier Pro without needing to use another program such as After Effects. The titles of our film were also added using Premier Pro, even though we could have chosen to use After Effects to get a more complex effect, however we felt that a simplistic font and a simple fade in and fade out complemented the scene well and didn't take away too much attention from it. Sound was edited in premier pro also, as the razor tool works similarly with sound as it does video to allow us to trim down the soundtrack and audio.

We did use After Effects for our company logo. We did several logo designs, with some including visual effects such as smoke and lightening, however we did not quite get a look that we liked that looked professional and fitted with the type of media products we were creating, and as a result stuck with a very simple logo, but hopefully equally as effective.

Research and Planning

For our research,we used blogger, as this allowed us to make separate posts continuously. This was important as the process was over a long period and therefore the project was separated into different parts. Another feature of blogger is the ability to import photos and embed videos. This was useful as images helped assist us with our analysis of other media products and also helped to show our recce. With embedding videos, we were able to embed our preliminary task and also our main task. This is useful as it means that you do not have to leave the blog in order to access our media product.

For our location recce, we used the camera on our phones, as we did not need high end equipment as this was to just give us an idea of what the location was like and any potential risks to put into the risk assessment.

Evaluation

For our evaluation, we made a video with the green screen for answering the question comparing what we had learned from the preliminary task to the main task. This green screen was then removed through the use of the ultra key in Adobe Premiere Pro, which enabled us to play clips from our films to assist with our analysis. We did have difficulty with the green screen in that there were creases in the screen that were difficult to key out, but we used the colour picker to remove as much as possible.

We also shared our video on social media to gain feedback from friends. This was helpful as it allowed us to identify what they liked and disliked for us to take into consideration in the future.

Evaluation Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

I think our film attracts an audience because of the characters. The idea that the film follows the killer as opposed to the detective/hero will, I think, be of interest to audiences. Their curiosity may persuade them to watch our film. The age group is also of interest to the audience as the age of our characters is very close to the target audience of most horror films.

Also, the theme of murder may be interesting to horror fans as death is scary and they will want a horror film to be scary, as this is part of the thrill they are going for. Also, the use of flashbacks and point of view shots will help to create tension and unnerve them, and also help to persuade them to continue watching by increasing their curiosity for how the plot pans out.
 

How did you attract/address your audience? from joehintonmedia

Evaluation Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The primary audience for our product is 15-25 year olds. This is because the main characters in our film are late teenagers and therefore they can best relate to the characters. Also, demographics tell us that these are the most likely people to view horror films in cinema's. Our film's secondary audience is probably 25-35 year olds. This is because we feel an older audience may enjoy the psychological aspects of our film and how it leans towards potential insanity.

If we look at the UK box office on the week commencing 10th January 2015, we see that The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death is seventh on it's second week, grossing £3.97 million. This is a horror film and shows that there is a market and an audience that are keen to view horror films, and therefore I have no doubt that our film could be a success once distributed.

The media industry target young adults and teenagers for horror films by the use of marketing. For example, they may make sure the posters and trailers try to invoke fear, as audiences want to be scared by horror films and this is one of the main selling points.

We gained audience feedback by presenting early drafts of our film and also by pitching the initial idea. Our classmates, who are in the age group targeted for our film, offered us recommended changes and also opinions. In our initial ideas, the killing was actually going to be included in the opening, but after advise from our fellow students we realised that it would be difficult to make it look convincing and actually build fear with the audience.

We decided to use YouGov profiler to determine the audience of a film similar to ours. We chose Psycho because that also shows a young killer who is revealed to be insane. We found out that the most popular age range for this film was 40-59 year olds. Despite this conflicting with our audience research, I didn't read too much into it as the film is from 1960 and therefore those within the age range of 40-59 were likely to be teenagers when they first saw the film. In terms of the regional demographics, the film is the most popular with those in the South Coast. We can use this information when distributing our film because we can show it more regularly and also advertise heavier in that area. We also found out that they are likely to be a user of Facebook. This is key as we can use advertising via social media to bring attention to our film.

Evaluation Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think our film is similar to The Shining, in that the plot of ours involves insanity as a key concept. The Shining was financed and distributed by Warner Bros and made by Hawk Films. It had a budget of $19,000,000 and made $44,017,374 domestic total gross in the USA box office, with $622,337 of that coming in the first weekend. 

Using this information, I think that Warner Bros would be the best option to finance and distribute our film. I researched that Warner Bros have distributed several horrors in recent years, such as Annabelle, The Conjuring and Texas Chainsaw. Therefore, I believe that they will have a keen interest in investing into new Horror films to appeal to teenage film viewers. I think that a suitable budget for our film would be $10,000,000, as it the majority of the film will be set in the woods, which will be inexpensive to film at. Also, because the main characters of our film are all teenagers, inexperienced actors will likely be employed, which will be inexpensive.

I project that our film will make around $50,000,000 in the box office, as there is a real demand from teenagers for horror films. I believe that the secondary audience of young adults will also be keen as insanity is often very interesting in films.

I also think our film gives the audience what they want, as there is a demand for horror films and as long as they keep coming out, the production companies will keep making money.

Evaluation Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film challenges lots of stereotypes represented in horror films. An example of this is our victim. Traditionally, the victim of a horror film tends to be female, as they are shown as being vulnerable. However, we wanted to challenge this as we felt this stereotype did not reflect reality and in order to make our horror film scary and provoke a reaction, it needed to be as realistic as possible. Therefore we decided to go for a male victim and, because this is challenging the stereotype, raises the question as to whether the killer actually knew the victim before his death.

Another way we challenged stereotypes in horror films is the mystery behind the killer. We decided for the killer to be known from the beginning and for his identity to be revealed, as opposed to being concealed by a mask. We did this because we wanted to focus less on the protagonist of the film, but rather the antagonist, as we felt this would create tension with the audience and would be scary to follow this unstable man throughout the film. It also gives the audience less knowledge as to how close the protagonists are to catching the killer, giving them a sense of unease.

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

The first shot is a tilt downwards. The camera goes from the top of the trees to the floor. We did this to emphasize the height of the trees, as this could make the audience feel slightly intimidated. In terms of the text, we decided to have a black shadow behind it. This is to make sure the text is clearly visible in front of the white of the sky. We decided to go for a simple font that was easy to read, as we didn't want it to serve as too much distraction from the sequence. This shot is a very long shot. We decided early in pre-production that we wanted to have slow cutting at the beginning and slowly build up to fast cutting at the end. This will create a build up of tension.

 

 The second shot is an establishing shot of the location with the killer sat in the centre of the shot. It is an extreme long shot as this shows how isolated he is. We used titles again in this scene with the same font to show consistency and in the bottom right as to not distract from the focus of the shot, which is the killer, and also because that area of the shot was not active. It is worth noting that all our scenes, apart from the flashback, have a blue tint to them. This is a convention of horror films and gives a more unnatural and eerie look to the shots.

The next shot is a tracking shot that tracks the killer from him sitting on the log, to walking towards the body. We decided that this would be the best shot to have as it is still early in the sequence and we highlighted earlier that we wanted infrequent cuts at the beginning, and also we felt it helped the scene flow. We decided to stop tracking once we established the direction he was going in as it then emphasizes the scale of the forest and really emphasizes that he is isolated, as he gets smaller in the scene.

The next shot is also a tracking shot. This follows the killer and is a  medium close up. We decided it would be better to be closer to the killer now because it removes that sense earlier on that he is alone, as this shot does not show isolation. There is a vignette in all our shots excluding the flashback as we felt this added a spooky effect and implies that there is darkness everywhere. This is also conventional in horror films.

The next shot is a low angle shot that shows the bloody hand of the victim, with the killer walking towards it in the background. The focus changes from the killer in the background at first, to the hand in the foreground and this was to show a change in the focus of the sequence from the killer to the body. We decided to use a low angle shot as this shows that all control is with the killer and there is no hope for the victim. The fact that the killer is out of focus the nearer he is to the hand connotes that the events that caused this are unclear to him.

In contrast, the next shot is a high angle shot, which again shows that all control is with the killer, as this is a point of view shot. This is also the shot that reveals the body to the audience. We made this a long shot because we wanted to include the whole body in the shot to emphasize that this was key to the scene.

This next shot is an over the shoulder shot. This helps bring some perspective to the audience as to where the killer is in relation to the body. It also hides the emotion of the killer and, as a result, emphasises his isolation. Also, because of the nature of the over the shoulder shot and perspective, the killer is larger in the shot, and this could symbolise the power he has in the scene.



There is then a zoom shot of the blood-stained hand, which builds up nicely to the flashback, as the zoom acts like a distancing from reality. We decided to put the camera at an angle as so that the body is visible out of focus. This helps the audience anticipate that the killer is thinking about him. This shot is short in length as we wanted to use fast paced editing to represent a hint of panic. Also, the fact that the body is behind the hand out of focus makes it clear to the audience that he is guilty of the crime.

For the flashback shots, we decided to completely change the tint we used. This was because we wanted to make it clear that this was a flashback sequence and not part of the scene. We decided to go for a yellow tint as this gives the scene a warm feeling and shows that the killer actually enjoys killing. We decided to only leave part of the shot in focus and the rest we added a directional blur, as we thought this would best represent that it was a memory, as naturally memories will be distorted.

We wanted the whole of the flashback sequence to be built up of close up shots, as it puts the audience right in the thick of the action and could increase their empathy towards the victim. In terms of sound, we decided to include an eerie soundtrack along with voiceovers that overlap each other, as we wanted the sound to be very busy to add fear to the audience. The sound builds up until the scream of the victim, which is loud as a convention of horror is to scare people, and unexpected loud noises scare people.





The next shot is an extreme close up of the killers eyes and solidifies that it was indeed a flashback and was formed from the memories of the killer. The close up also emphasizes his emotions and his eyes tell a lot in this scene.

February feedback

You have made great strides to complete coursework and your attempts to learn new skills in using digital technologies to evaluate is to be commended.

January feedback

Research and Planning - 15

Planning and research is complete, and at times detailed. There is some proficient research into potential target audiences, including a look at demographics, audience reception theory etc. There is excellent research into similar products and some proficient planning, including scripts (although this doesn't follow conventions), schedules, shot lists, and an excellent storyboard. The organisation of locations including a recce etc is excellent and shows a great deal of planning on this project.

Main Task – 57

The tone is set stylishly in this simple but sophisticated film opening. There is an excellent variety of camera movements, tilts and pans, as well as some creative and excellent framing, notably the dead body arm in the foreground while the antagonist approaches. The credits follow conventions and keep pace with the slow but sophisticated pace. There is a clear narrative and the editing is excellent with a clear build up of sequences and match on actions. This is clearly fulfilling the task set and meaning is conveyed through editing, the sophisticated soundscape and editing.

Responding to Feedback

Responding to Feedback

In the feedback we received from Miss Spencer, we were told that the soundtrack made the first cut sound like a trailer. Whilst we didn't want it to sound like a trailer, we also didn't want it to be just diegetic sound, as this does not create the tension needed for a horror film. We decided to get feedback from the music teacher in the school who said that it may be beneficial to use .....

When we removed the music, we realised that the natural sounds in the background were a lot louder in some shots than others. This is mainly due to moving the camera during filming. In premier pro, you can change the decibels of each shot. After altering the sound, we found that the shots flowed together much better and it made it seem like it was all a scene, rather than shots put together.

We completed filming on the flashback sequence. We decided to use close up shots throughout the whole sequence, as it helps to represent that these flashbacks are based off the memories of the killer. We also didn't want to show the actual kill, as we thought it would be beneficial to the story if we left it for later on in the film.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

First Cut Feedback

There are some fantastic elements to this film, the pace is excellent, giving a feeling of a slow start with a build up towards the end of the opening. There is a variety of camera shots, angles and movement and your narrative is starting to become clearer.

In order to help with progress think about the following:

• Sort out the sound glitches and differences in volume.
• Think about adding some more ambient sound to the opening
• the music makes it feel too much like a trailer - think about losing this entirely and replacing with interesting sound effects
• build up your flashback scene, using an aftereffects zoom into the eye. This will help the narrative flow better. Ensure that this part has a clear colour differentiation so it is clear this is a flashback.

First Cut Video

First Cut Review

Cut
We first had to narrow down our clips to ones that were usable and without mistakes. We reduced the need to re-film any shots due to having several shoots of each shot. Despite making it time consuming in post production, it was worth it as it would have been more time consuming to go out and film again. We made the decision to go from very infrequent cuts at the beginning to quite frequent cuts towards the end to show a build up of tension and also to tease the audience that something eventful was going to happen.

Effects
We added a light blue filter to our project. This is to adhere to the convention of horror because it is a quite cold colour and the one thing we didn't want to do is make the setting look vibrant. Therefore taking away some of the natural colour was crucial. We are currently trying to decide upon which filters to use in our flashback sequence, as we don't want it to look to similar to the others in that you cannot know if its a flashback or not, but equally we don't want it too different that it looks out of place in the film. We could consider maybe a tilt shift or a shorter depth of field, as this could show that the killers memories are not too clear.

Sound
We tried to make our film tense and eerie but it was difficult to do because of the lack of action in the opening of the film. Therefore, we needed to try and add this with the use of sound, as sound can be powerful in films. A film that incorporates a great soundtrack is Interstellar (2014). Christopher Nolan worked with composer Hans Zimmer to create a soundtrack that emphasized the scale and mystery of the film. However, as we are so early in the film, and the audience had no clear understanding of what was going on at this point, we felt that adding music would be unnecessary. As a substitute, we decided that we should have frequent ambient sounds to maintain the intensity of the scene.

As well as this, we needed sound effects. We decided that we wanted a crow sound in the background that alerts the killer during his meditation. This is because crows are usually heard at graveyards and often symbolise death. Also, it is a very aggressive sound and it keeps the audience on edge.

We decided to remove the sound completely in the scenes that he was meditating in, as we believed this would convey that he was untouched by his surroundings and in deep thought. It also clarifies that he is meditating. The silence also helped with emphasizing the crow sound effect, as it is heard from silence. The sound returns as normal after this to show an awakening.

Risk Assessment

Organisation name: Medium Carmine Productions

What are the hazards?	Who might be harmed and how?	What are you already doing?	Do you need to do anything else to manage this risk?	Action by whom?	Action by when?	Done
Slips and trips	Staff and visitors may be injured if they trip over objects or slip on spillages	We can look at the surrounding area we are going to use and remove any sticks or twigs that may be a trip hazard.	Have spatial awareness.	All of the film crew.	20/10/2014
Weather	The weather may be rain on the day of filming, which could cause an issue as the filming equipment could be damaged.	We have looked at the weather forecast to determine the best day of filming.	We can choose to film on a different day	All of the film crew.	20/10/2014
Objects falling from the sky	One of the crew members could be harmed and it may cause head injury.	We are looking at the surroundings and seeing what objects could fall.	We could wear hard hats to reduce the damage they can cause.	All of the film crew. (except actors when on air)	20/10/2014

Film titles & Logo

Titles

The titles in the film se7en have a very interesting animation. The titles change the font size in short bursts, as the title 'se7en' goes from going from a smaller font from the left to a large font that is centred for a split second. Also, the titles are very shaky. This could be used to build suspense and represent perhaps some instability with the characters. The font itself closely resembles handwriting. This could connote that there is a manipulative character in the story who is controlling. When the actors names are being displayed, on the opposing side to the name there are photographs that look like newspaper articles. This could be used to show that the story is based off of something that happened in the past, and this affects the story. The fact that the titles are white on a dark background shows the story will be dark, but have glimpses of hope and good.

The Walking Dead is a horror genre TV show. In its opening titles, it follows a similar pattern to seven in that it is a dark background with light text. However, they use colors like greens and browns. This is perhaps used to represent the forests and rural areas of Georgia, where it is set. This is something we could consider for our film, as ours is set in a woods. The font is capitalized and in bold to draw attention to it. This is similar to Se7en.

The actors names are displayed using extreme close up shots  and long shots. The names are usually displayed either to the left or to the right and at a part of the shot that is out of focus. This is so that it remains easy to read. The image also has a sepia filter to it, making it all flow together and making all the pictures look like they go together.l





With 'Evil Dead', the text is in red to represent blood. This is foreshadowing the violence that will be involved in the film. Also there are what appear to be branches silhouetted onto the text. This symbolizes both the setting, which may be in the woods or a forest, and also the mentality of the characters, as it may show that they are reliant upon each other and held up by something bigger than them, like the branches.

The names of those involved is also in red, with extreme close up shots of blood in the background. The names are in capitals to make the viewer subconsciously 'shout' it in their head, which helps build up tension. The colors of the background are black and red, with a bit of green. The green could again represent woods or forest or a rural area.

Production Schedule / Filming Schedule

Production Schedule – Widows Creek

Date	Task	Complete Y/N
W/C: 3/11/14	Complete filming.	Y
W/C: 10/11/14	Editing.	Y
W/C: 17/11/14	Creating graphics & titles.	Y
W/C: 24/11/14	Continue creating graphics & titles.	Y
W/C: 01/12/14	Sourcing sound/music.	N
W/C: 08/12/14	Blogging all stages of filming. Uploading all elements from Foundation Portfolio onto blog.	N
W/C: 15/12/14	Film to be handed in to be marked over the Christmas Break.	N

Recce

We decided to take a trip to Hopwas Woods before filming to identify a suitable filming location. We eventually found a suitable location. We made sure it had a place where the killer could sit and meditate, and also that the land was reasonably flat, because this will make it easier for the tripod to be level.

Role allocation & Casting

Planning

Roles:

Director                -               Joe Hinton                         

Actor                    -               Conor Hanlon, Jamie Cartwright  

Cameraman        -               Jamie      

Producer             -               Jamie & Joe

Editor                  -               Jamie, Joe & Harry

Researcher         -               Harry

We believe that our friend Jake Taylor will act as the serial killer and our friend Connor Hanlon will take the role of the victim. In terms of our group roles, we believe on that Joe will take the role of director as he is an organised person and would be suitable for the role ensuring on that we will get the camera angles in relation to our storyboard, which he took lead on. The camera man with be Jamie Cartwright with assistance from the director to ensure that the right camera angles is then recorded. Harry has taken a lead role in researching the conventions of horror/ thriller film and came up with the name and a plot twist in the story. All of us will be producers of the film as we have a direct knowledge of what we wish he outcome to be and we can make decisions on whether to reshoot certain shots. In terms of sound, Joe will be selecting music and various sound effects.

The props we will need would be the clues that the killer leaves behind with the murder. This will include the R.I.P. sign.

The location we were thinking initially was Hopwas woods, as the woods are a convention of horror and the trees can be used to build up tension.  We would not need any permission to shoot on this location.