Audience Research Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PTT2J8J

From this survey we have gathered information on movie preferences and who our target audience is.

Here are the analysed results:
http://g321tomcurtis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/audience-research-survey-results.html

Here is the audience profile gathered from survey and research:
http://g321tomcurtis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/audience-profile.html

Music Source

For part of the short, we used music from a royalty free music site; the site allows users to select what types of music genre or feeling they want, and it shows music that goes in all categories selected. For this we selected suspense and dark as that is the type of film we want.

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ 

 

We also used Cubase 6, linked to a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)  keyboard to replicate a piano sound for the melody at the start. We aimed to make a nursery rhyme styled song to fit the theme of the school although we made it sound intense and creepy instead of cheerful and fun to make it fit in a horror film. we used reverb and delay to add to the effect.

Title Sequence Analysis

One example of a film that has gave ideas on how to use the title in a horror film is The Exorcist, I like the way it  uses simplicity in the title font straight after only two beginning shots- it uses the title very early on. This title font is used well to create a feel of a quite religious and spiritual horror film, this is because it is the type font is used in Christian places such as bibles.



Another is the layout of the opening credits for the cast in the first two seasons of the tv series The Walking Dead. I like the way the camera is always moving and the text moves with the shots as if it is physically there. It is edited well into establishing shots of abandoned places and scenery, this is to set the scene of lifelessness as the series is about zombies (hence the title- The Walking Dead). Another notable thing about these opening credits is the order of what names come up first, it begins with the name of the production company (AMC)- stating who presents it. Next it shows who is starring in it but doesn't use the word starring before hand. The executive producers are next, followed by the developer and what it is based on/who wrote it.



Insidious is also a good example of the ordering of the opening titles in a horror film because it follows the guidelines and norm for usual opening titles.

The Brief

Preliminary exercise: For this task, our group has to make a minute long film that includes a character opening a door, walking in the room and sitting down opposite another character of whom would have a conversation with.  This will require us to film and edit multiple shots, and must contain a shot reverse shot that must follow the 180-degree rule.

Main task: The main task is to create an opening sequence and title for a fictional short film that will last a maximum of 2 minutes.

All videos and audio must be captured by participants (with the exception of music and audio effects) and must be copyright free. The group must have a maximum of four members.

Audience Survey Results

LiveType Attempts

This is my first idea of the title for the end of our opening sequence in The Pyre.



I tried to make it simple and intended to have a low bass sound when the title appears, followed by silence.

This is the second attempt of a title for the film.



This time I tried to use one of the effects provided by LiveType but after going through them I ended up preferring the original attempt.

Recce Shots

1st Location

This is the main location we plan to use for the opening scene of our AS Media Project. It is a large abandoned building therefore giving the perfect atmosphere for a horror film. Another good thing about this location is that it fits with the story that we have chosen- about a ghost in an abandoned burnt down school which is exactly what this building is.

As you can see by the previous photos there are lots of overgrown plants so that when the audience sees it they will automatically know it is abandoned. The colour of the dead plants and the dull weather also fit well with the genre.

2nd Location

This is the second location we intend to shoot at in order to create a flashback effect that switches between the past and present (the 1st location). It is at the old building in Hartlepool Sixth Form College and is perfect for representing an old college/school during flashbacks.

Opening Title and Sequence Idea's For Short Film

We Have multiple Ideas on how to lay out the credits and music at the beginning of the film, which have been influenced by other horror based movies and television shows.

One example of this is the title font and layout of the film The Exorcist.



Another is the layout of the credits for the cast in the first two seasons of the tv series The Walking Dead.

The Pyre- Script

The Pyre- Storyboard

The Pyre- Risk Assessment

Risk assessment from tlcurtis

The Pyre- Equipment List

Audience Research Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FCJTKPB

The Pyre- Animatic

Production Logo

The Pyre- Shooting Schedule

This is the shooting schedule to our short film, used as a basic plan towards how long each part of the film would take to record, when we would do it and what we would need. We created this schedule as a reminder of when we were recording and so that we didn't forget to bring anything.

Here is the first edition of our shooting schedule, which shows the dates in which we planned to shoot, as well as other important details. We have redesigned it to make it look more neat and professional.

The Pyre- Mood Board

Sound Editing Task Evaluation

 We had two sound editing tasks; the first task was to edit the sound on the opening sequence of The Dark Knight with garage band. We did this by using pre-made samples of instruments to create music and/or sound effects.

I did not like this task as I felt limited by what was on garage band, it seemed not many of the samples went with the clip and therefore it became difficult for me. It is because of this that I didn’t feel I accomplished as much as I would like to have, even though I did eventually add some music from the instruments.

For this task I added a number of layers of instruments so that it had a fuller texture- I used multiple stringed instrument, drums and synth effects. I tried to time the clip as well so that the music would stop and start at different parts such as the explosion of the window near the beginning.

As well as just making it sound good, it had to fit with the video, this meant I had to create music that would ever set the mood of the film or try and follow an obvious one. To successfully do this I tried to figure out which feeling the scene was already creating and match it by trying to use altering volumes, instruments and texture.

I would have found this task easier if I used samples from other applications or sources, or if we could perhaps add our own original sounds/songs by recording them or by creating a midi track.

For the second task we had to attempt sound editing on our own piece of random video footage we made in a short amount of time with a camera. We did this by using garage band’s samples of instruments and effects.

I enjoyed this task as the footage had no real theme or genre (it was just one plain simple clip), this meant we could make it be whatever we wanted. This was good as it meant a lot of the samples went with the clip and were easily used to influence a feeling and genre. I had fewer problems with the samples given to us for this sound editing task as timing was less of an issue and most things worked, although I would have still liked to add things from other sources than garage band.

Short Horror Film Mind Map

The Pyre- Treatment

The Pyre- Call Sheet

Film Concept Presentation

Inspirational/Creative Opening Sequence Analysis

Watchmen Opening Scene

Watchmen begins with one of the most important characters, comedian, watching television. It uses the television to show the current events at the time and hint to what the film will be based around; he then switches to a music channel to begin the music as if the audience is really there. The next shot is from the villain’s perspective moving towards the door to show someone else is going to enter- to keep the idea of the audience being there it muffles the music to show what the character hears.

The room also sets the scene for most of the movie by using a large window for the wall, allowing the audience to view the city that the film I set in.

Once the villain breaks the door, it begins using the effects slow motion; this is the beginning of the fight scene. Through the fight it shows things round the room like pictures, this is to sow the characters past giving a slight insight on him and to make references to the story and comics. It also continues to use slow motion to add detail and focus the audience on things such as the bullet and the characters getting hit.

The fight comes to an end and this gives the characters a chance to speak, this is important as it creates one of the more known quotes, “it’s a joke, it’s all a joke, mother forgive me”. It then shows a drop of his blood fall on his badge- this is one of the most famous scenes and some of the covers for the film.

The scene ends with him getting thrown out the window to his death and as the characters life ends the music finishes.

Overall this beginning shows us that the film is going to be violent by the use of guns and fighting, it begins fairly dark showing that the majority of the film is going to be dark.

Iron Man Opening Scene

The film begins with an establishing shot of the desert that Tony Stark and some troops are driving down. It begins in silence with just the airy background sound but once the vehicles are viewed in the next shot, which seems to be a wide shot from in front, the music begins. This music is used throughout the trilogy of iron man film as a sort of theme tune/track making it a great time to use it.

The music continues normally while different shots are used of the vehicles, these shots mainly consist of low angles and tracking shots. The camera then shoots inside of the vehicle, staring by showing that the music is coming from a stereo showing we can hear what the characters can hear. Stark is first to speak, he begins by trying to make jokes to the soldiers showing the nature of the character- he is meant to be a type of person that makes a lot of jokes and cheesy catch phrases to make him seem clever. Now that the analog as started the music lowers in volume so that the audience can hear what they are saying. They talk for a bit and the camera switches between close ups of the characters to show they’re speaking and their expressions and reactions to the jokes.

At the end of the analog they’re about to take a photo when another vehicle explodes in front of them (they use this time for the explosion so that the viewer does not expect it).

Overall this opening shows that this film will contain action and be slightly humorous, it shows what the main character (tony stark) will be like through the film and shows the type of music through the film will be fast and loud ACDC tracks.

Shaun of the Dead

The opening to this film uses the song Ghost Town by The Specials, which is ironic and well suited to the zombie based comedy. It begins with people doing normal things that people would do on a daily basis except they’re tired and almost zombie like in movement- as to show what is coming up. This background cast of characters is used well as later on you actually see the same people as zombies, for example the cashier that you see (Mary), is later the zombie in Shaun and Ed’s back garden. Towards the end of the sequence Shaun is first introduced, he too is zombie like because he has just awoken and is yawning.

The opening is good as it uses multiple wide shots to show that the film is set in an average British town, also showing the type of people there. The music used in this opening is also put to good use to show the film will be comical- setting the feel for it.

Horror Analysis

In the horror analysis, our group had to use Microsoft PowerPoint to create a slideshow of research on horror films, such as age ratings of this type of genre and sub genres of horror, for example slasher.

The History of Horror Genre

Horror films are made to confront people’s fears and nightmares. They use these features, creatures and irrational thoughts to make people scared so the viewer can get a thrill. Horrors are known to begin with George Melies’ short films in the 1890’s (particularly Le Manoir du diable).  Japan then took an interest in the category in 1898.


Possibly one of the greatest known horrors Frankenstein was next made; it was originally released in 1910, but along with other great known movies (such as Bram stoker’s novel- Dracula) it was remade. In fact, a lot of the well-known movies and characters that the newer generation will know today were made originally in the 1900’s.

Zombies are one of the most known parts of horror films; which is obvious- the living dead rose to eat the flesh of humans is bound to be remembered. But originally this was not the story; the idea of zombies came from multiple cultures, in particularly the Haitian religions and other African versions of Voodoo.  It was around 1930 that it became an idea used to make people frightened of the living dead in novels and movies such as The Magic (1929) and white zombie (1932).

Although one of the most remembered, the living dead are not the only categories in horror. Other sub-genres also began appearing during the 1900’s. Possibly one of the most known of these is slasher, arriving properly in 1960 with Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (rated the top in IMDB’s top rated horror’s), this subgenre is a horror section that slightly mixes with thriller, creating films commonly about murderers seeking out a group of characters one by one.

The 1970’s and 80’s was a huge part of horrors releasing some of the most iconic movies in the genre; this includes shivering tales such as The Exorcist (1973), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Jaws (1975), Carrie (1976 and re-released in 2013), The Omen (1976 and re-released in 2006), Halloween (1978), Dawn of The Dead (1978 and re-released in 2004), Alien (1979), Friday the 13^th (1980), the shining (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Child’s Play (1988). This series of long living films created multiple chain reactions of sequels, re-releases, copies and even prequels; needless to say the past generations of horror films have influenced new films in numerous ways.

The sub-genre slasher continued through 1990 releasing sequels of films from the previous years, but this was wearing it out as the last 20 years was filled with this style of gory horrors. This did not help seen as so computer generated imagery was making a huge advance improving special effects for other genres; this meant that genres like sci-fi and fantasy made a huge leap forwards taking the audience of horror.

The 21^st century made an improvement on the genre, it started to use features from the previous century. It even introduced the living dead back to our cinemas with films like the Resident Evil franchise (adapted into films from 2002 onwards), I Am Legend (2007) and Zombie Land (2009) which shows another style of horror films- comedy horror. Ghosts have also been reintroduced with films such as paranormal activity (2007); and even though these features have been brought back, slasher has also stayed along side with continuous rereleases of previous films.



I Am Legend (2007)

Zombie Land (2009)

IMDB's top rated horror films

Vice's 'Investigating the Haitian Zombie'

Vsauce's 'Why Are Things Creepy?'

Nine Frame Analysis

In this task I looked at consecutive shots in a section of a film (Taken) and looked at the angles to find out how they are used to portray the emotions of the characters and show their actions effectively.

The first shot- is a medium shot of her picking up the phone to start the scene.

The second is of Neeson on the other end, it uses a zooming shot to draw attention to him as he is talking.

After that it switches between the two characters as they speak to show who is talking, it uses a mix between medium and close shots to show what the characters are doing and there expressions.

Once she reaches the bathroom it uses mostly close up shots to show her confusion and shock at what the men are doing in the other room.

During this it also uses wide shots to show what she can see

When Neeson realises what is happening he walks away to a brief case, the camera uses slight pan shots to follow him and show what he doing.

When the men walk into the hall it uses close ups of their legs so that it shows they’re near without revealing the identity of them.

Finally once she is under the bed, it uses mostly close ups to add tension, showing their expressions- including her crying and him in disbelief and shock.