BW Location Recce - Southborough Scout Hut

Here are some photos from my recce to Southborough Scout Hut. We need a large hall, which can possibly decorate / set up to look suitable for our horror, so this is one of our suggested locations.

Looking at institutional context

The institutional context of a film is the contextualisation of the film from a business and monetary point of view, as opposed to the creative view that we have been focusing on recently.

Production
The production of the film would most likely be handled by us and a select number of professional cameramen. We would have little need of a studio, seeing as most of our shots would be outdoors and would not require excessive props, management or set hands. The film would be directed and largely funded by ourselves, maybe with financial support from an independent conglomerate.

Distribution
The distribution would most likely be passed on to an external distribution company, preferably one with experience in independent/art house film distribution. Examples would include Momentum pictures and Optimum Releasing.

Exhibition
The exhibition of the film would be handled by art house cinemas like Curzon, and if we received enough hype and good reviews, we may widen our range to include larger industrial cinemas like Odeon. This is because the nature of our film lends itself better to less mainstream audiences, and leans more towards the intelligent art movie-goer population bracket.

CF feedback - product research/ideas dvpt

Well done - excellent research and group work so far. You have all chosen relevant texts and researched them thoroughly. It is also evident that you are communicating well as a group; commenting and discussing your concept and how the research relates to it directly. Although each of you have elements of the film research that perhaps lacks a little detail, overall you are all working at a Level 4, using technical terminology, being reflective, thinking about macro issues. You use ICT effectively to communicate ideas - great prezi on genre.

Your practical practice tasks are outstanding at this stage - show real promise.

You now must include more detail on ideas development and institutional context. (Chris - you are missing a product analysis).
Great work, keep it up.

Group: Filming & Editing in HD

• In the UK and in Europe, we shoot on a format called PAL. In America, however, they shoot on a different format - NTSC.
• Since technology has allowed cameras and televisions to shoot and display high definition (HD) quality en masse, the quality of photo and video has increased significantly.
• The standard display size is 720 x 576, yet HD is 5x better quality, displaying images at 1900 x 1080.

The video camera that we are using shoots in full HD, recording at 25 frames per second, which is traditional of a video camera bought in the United Kingdom.

However, we are planning on shooting on a second camera - a digital SLR, which belongs to Chris. This camera records at 30 frames per second, more in line with American cameras. This means that if we shoot using both cameras, we cannot edit them together, but will have to edit them seperatly before exporting them together.

BW Recce Shoot - Edit With Music

After our recce to Wilderness Woods, I have edited together some of our more interesting shots, with some discordant music playing over the clip to give it more tension. The colours have been altered to make it look darker and more stylistic. My favourite shot is the one of the camera around 0.55, with the extreme detail of the woodland floor and the background blurred. This is something I would like to include in the final opening.

Group Recce Evaluation

What is the point of a recce?

The point of conducting a recce is to firstly test out the location to see whether it is a suitable place to shoot and if it is safe and practical to film. Secondly, a recce can also be used for getting used to filming different shots and being able to use the camera's with confidence. This is what we did for our trip to Wilderness woods as it allowed us to shoot in a suitable location and allow us to gain confidence about using the camera's.

What did you learn about the process of film making on the recce?The group learnt a few things about the process of film making from our recce such as time keeping can be difficult because even with a large amount of time, we still found ourselves running out of time due to the fact that we had so many shots that we wanted to try out. Furthermore, there were some factors during filming that we were not capable of controlling such as the weather. On our day at wilderness woods, the weather was only a small problem with the wind, however on some other recce's we may have to plan around the weather in case it affects our filming.

Did you try out any shots that didn't work?There were a couple of shots we attempted which did not go as planned. The first was a big extreme close-up of a maggot which we found on a bench. Despite zooming in a large amount, we still found it difficult to keep the camera still as well as keep it in focus whilst filming something so small which was moving at the same time. The second shot that did no work was the high-angled shot which was difficult because to get the camera high enough above someone standing proved to be quite a challenge, especially when trying to keep the camera still at the same time.

What ideas were the most successful?
One of our most successful ideas was a medium long shot where each of us appeared into the shot separately after each other doing different actions. This was quite tricky to begin with, but then we worked out how to remotely control the camera and so we could film the whole group at the same time. However, this particular idea became more successful after editing as we were able to fade ourselves in and then out giving it a ghostly feel. Another idea which was successful was filming small waterfalls in the stream which looked particularly impressive in HD and the big close-ups came out very well during editing.

How did this exercise generate ideas for your opening?
This exercise generated a few new ideas in the group for our opening such as the use of shadow which turned out to be very successful as it creates mystery and suspense. We are now definately looking at using more shadows in our opening as a result. In addition, the use of blur and going in and out of focus was another idea we picked up, especially after learning how to control it manually, was a very interesting technique that we picked up. This is definately an effect we will try using in our opening.

What will you do next in terms of your own locations?
In terms of our next locations we will be looking again for woods where lighting can be used effectively. As well as this a good location for us would be a building of some sort which we could use in our openeing to have a character run into and watch a videotape back.

AH Technical Analysis

Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004)

(Click picture to view clip)

For my technical deconstruction, I deconstructed "Dawn of the Dead" because it is a horror film with a montage opening, something which our group is increasingly leaning towards. From analysing this opening, I have learnt a number of things:

1. I now have a better understanding of the number of shots that are actually involved in making a two minute montage editing.
2. For horror montage openings, there is usually a high cutting rate and in this specific opening there are either 3 or 4 cuts per second at some stages.
3. The transitions and font can play a large role in allowing the audience to establish the genre of the film. In this case, the lettering is in red on a black background and washes away like blood giving connotations of the horror genre.
4. A number of both close-ups and extreme close-ups add tension and a sense of the unknown for the audience.
5. Lighting is particularly useful for horror openings as it can hide certain details or show them which can add suspense and horror.
   

AH Opening Scene Analysis

True Blood

(Click picture to view clip)

Introduction:
Despite not being a film, I have chosen to analyse the "True Blood" TV series opening since it has a montage opening, something our group has been inspired by and are looking to do.

Overview:
'True Blood' is a TV series which began in 2008 and is into its fourth series. The generic conventions expected by the audience are quite evident in the opening with blood and gore seen frequently.

Representation and Ideology:

• The main social group being represented is adults, both men and women, as they are most prevalent during the opening. There are two different social groups within adults being represented which are religious adults and non-religious.

• The second social group being represented is children who are shown towards the middle of clip, possibly to show innocence being corrupted as they are eating a dead animal.

• The way in which some females in the clip are represented in the clip is negative because they are heavily sexualised and objectified.

Media Audiences:

• The target audience for "True Blood" is probably young and middle-aged adults because of the violence and sex that is included in the TV series. In addition, a viral marketing campaign was used with a MySpace profile and websites created to coincide with the premiere on televisions.

• The preferred reading of the clip is that there are religious people and non-religious people in a place where vampires are real and part of society.
  

My Reading:

• My reading of the text, as a British teenager, is that of the preferred reading where there is a major difference between religious and non-religious adults in a world where vampires are the norm and are real.
  

CJ Film Opening Research - Constantine Clip - Technical Deconstruction

*SPOILER ALERT*

To anyone from other groups: this is the last scene of the film, if you haven't seen it already it'll ruin it for you. Just thought I'd leave a warning.

Constantine is a very interesting film to look in technical terms, as the camera angles, editing, mise-en-scene and sound are all outstanding. Instead of looking at the opening, I'm going to look at a point at the end of the movie.This is because I feel that the intro is not representative of the style we're attempting to recreate, and I prefer the technical aspects of this scene. Whilst most of the SFX (when used) are not achievable in our time window, some other aspects are definitely worth following up.

Here is the technical deconstruction of the first five minutes or 56 shots of this clip.

Shot 1: Watch ticking, blood flowing. Macro shot, XCU.

Shot 2: Gabriel plunges knife downwards, time slows down. Worms eye view, inverse track and pan.

Shot 3: LS of Constantine on floor, unfocused. Drips of tar then feet appear from top of screen and touch ground. Preset focus on feet - C defocused.

Shot 4: Lucifer touches down in slow motion, long shot.

Shot 5: MS of C on floor, chair set in front of him, feet step round.

Shot 6: L sits down. MS

Shot 7: Tracking forward shot of C through chair legs, L's legs.

Shot 8: side view, L & C. Full body, MLS. Low angle.

Shot 9: C places cigarette between lips, MCU

Shot 10: Low angle shot of Seated L. MS

Shot 11: C drops lighter. MS through chairlegs.

Shot 12: CU of L's face. Eye level.

shot 13: Profile shot of C's face, then L's face. MCU

Shot 14: L lights cigarette, MS, medium low angle.

Shot 15: Profile shot, C & L. Eye level. MCU

Shot 16: L sits down. Same positioning as shot 8.

Shot 17: C speaks. Shot 11 - same pos.

Shot 18: "I didn't think you would make the same mistake twice." shot 10 pos.

shot 19: CU of C's face - takes a drag.

Shot 20: CU of L's face. Eye level.

Shot 21: Shot 11 pos. Stationary.

Shot 22: Profile view of L. Left of shot. MCU

Shot 23: Profile view of C. Right of shot. MCU

Shot 24: L runs foot down C's leg. Shot 8 pos.

Shot 25: Shot 11 pos.

shot 26: Shot 8 pos. Camera tilts upwards as L stands.

Shot 27: Shot 19 pos.

Shot 28: shot 22 pos. "I have the spear of destiny" (laughs)

Shot 29: Shot 23 pos. L & C, two-shot. track forwards. Sudden movement of L, camera follows.

shot 30: L behind glass door, MLS. Door explodes. SFX - slow motion movement of glass, L remains unaffected by time change.

Shot 31: Trailing camera behind L, steadycam. MS

Shot 32: Tracking back camera, L walking. Glass bounces off body. MCU.

Shot 33: Centered shot of Gabriel, kneeling and Angela, lying. Level shot. Knife continues downwards in slow motion, camera tracks forwards.

Shot 34: Ped up from G to L. MS.

Shot 35: Worm's eye view, G centered. Knife continues downwards, MS

Shot 36: Bird's eye view; same scene from opposite direction. MS. L walks towards A & G.

Shot 37: BCU of knife, G's head behind - defocused. Tilting down, tracking forwards, pedding up.

Shot 38: MS of L, A at bottom of frame. Opposing camera movement to shot 37, tilting up, tracking back, pedding down. Low angle.

Shot 39: MCU of A's head, L's hand slips behind.

shot 40: L pulls A out of way of knife. 90° bird's eye view, MLS

Shot 41: Focus on knife tip; continues downwards with increasing speed. Slams into ground. CU

Shot 42: Low angle shot of knife in ground, G falls backwards, camera tilts up swiftly to show MS of G.

Shot 43: MCU of L holding G.

Shot 44: Track backwards, ped up, tilt down to show reflection of L holding demon. MS, worm's eye/high angle depending on how you look at it.

Shot 45: G speaks, rocking back and forth. camera follows face, centered. MCU.

Shot 46: MCU of L, tracking forward slightly.

Shot 47: G's wings frame shot of L holding A, low angle MS.

Shot 48: Low angle shot of G; MS. "I will smite thee, in his honour". Pulls back arm, camera follows.

Shot 49: Following fist of G, 60° swivel to profile shot of L. CU.

Shot 50: G left of shot, stunned MCU.

Shot 51: L looks round, pushes fist away. Eye level CU. "looks like someone doesn't have your back anymore".

Shot 52: L pushes fist away. Eye level profile CU.

Shot 53: G jerks, still stunned. Shot 50 pos.

Shot 54: L moves head, sudden rush of air blows clothing, camera defocuses slightly. CU.

Shot 55: G's hair and face blown around, centered CU

Shot 56: Camera tilts down. Reflection of floor shows demon. Camera tilts back up, shows L holding A. Worms eye view.

After looking at this clip shot by shot, it's easier for me to understand the processes and associate the various techniques used with the intended impact of each shot. As there is a certain amount of consistency in the methodology of shot use in horror films, I can take away a fairly good idea of how to create systems of tension, construct fluent conversational aspects and other techniques that can be made use of in our production.