Evaluation

We decided to evaluate our first film opening, 'Porphyria' because it gained more marks due to the sound quality and more obvious use of skills. Here is the script I wrote from the notes we created for our evaluation, on Liberty's blog:
http://libertyshawmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/evaluation-script.html


Here is our final finished video opening for 'Porphyria'...

And here is our evaluation...

Evaluation Notes

Rough notes made by me and Liberty, on what kind of points we will make in our evaluation:

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

-       Uses the conventions of a normal horror, where the protagonists are oblivious, and then accidentally stumble upon something, to which the film is about.

-       Challenges this, where the victim is dying willingly, rather than typically resistant, which confuses the audience, which then fits the genre of the psychological aspect.

-       Challenges conventions of horror, where it happens in the daytime, rather than night-time, to make the audience feel like, any time is never safe

-       Challenges conventions where killers are usually male, (Saw) however fits the conventions of supernatural films, where the female is often the dangerous one. (E.g. The ring)

-       Topless Sam -  represents a victim as vulnerable and powerless, which uses genre conventions, but then challenges this when he is being sacrificed willingly. Connotations of rape – half-naked, tension, pinned-down, which is similar to distressing events to fit with the genre convention, but again is controversial when he is doing it willingly. This confuses the audience and fits the psychological genre.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Teenagers – curious, adventurous, girl = scared, vulnerable

Professionals in lab coats = scary, authority

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

We decided that our production company will be a collaboration with the film company 'Lionsgate', an independent television and film distribution company in North America. The reason we chose this is because it has created many films with similar genre to ours, which is better than a bigger media ownership company like Universal or Columbia which don't specialise in particular genre's or smaller film projects

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Middle –class Teenagers – research shows they are interested in this type of genre because of their developing minds

This target audience are the most active in terms of social networking, cinema attendance, magazine buyers, and therefore it is easier and effective to advertise to them to make more money in the film industry.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Protagonists are the same as the audience – can relate to them.

Lab-coat people – represent middle class professions, to be controversial with the target audience

Both men and women involved so can relate to both genders.

Some researchers believe this type of thing represents the decay of society, which this generation seem to enjoy, where something irrational is happening.

Unrealistic to social norms, yet realistic enough to believe – escapism from the real world, which teenagers are most likely to want.

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

The range of effects on Sony Vegas to create appropriate atmosphere

Camera – taught each other how to use it

The learning of new technologies helped us be more independent, which helped us to reach early deadlines

Blogger  - learnt how to record our progress, and edit posts in terms of layout and importing pictures/videos etc. Became the important source for the development of our project.

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

-       Developed camera skills

-       How to make it more professional in Vegas

-       Worked better as a group – splitting up responsibility

-       Learnt how to be more creative in Vegas using a range of effects and transitions

-       How different types of music can make it appear different or make the audience feel something different

-       Developed a good sense of obvious storyline in terms of target audience

-       Effective use of our time

-       Developed better knowledge on how specific setting creates a certain atmosphere in a film

-       Adapted well from when we lost a member of the group and gained a new one

Final Version

Here is the final version of our video:

We made the following changes due to our feedback:

 - Changed the music to two tracks called 'Creepy Music Box' and 'Scary Music' where they both sound like eerie music boxes to create a more mysterious atmosphere, and seem to fit with the pace and footsteps of the whole clip.
 - Changed the contrast of all the 'inside' clips to make them look darker and creepier.
 - Increased all the volumes on speech to make it clearer and easier to hear.
 - Improved 'jumpy' clips that didn't run smoothly.
 - Cut down the length of the credits clips, to make them not 'drag on' too much and to cut down the length of the whole opening which was over the time limit. 
 - Cut down clips of the couple walking, to again cut down to within the time limit.
 - Changed the date on the transition text, so the clothes of the characters fit better with the time period. 
 - Cut out the flash of the hooded figure as the couple enter the room, as it seemed irrelevant and too random.
 - Changed the text colour and tracking of the title text, to make it fit more with the genre and to seem more eerie and mysterious.
 - Cut down all of the clips of the victim and the figures in lab-coats at the end, in order to stay within the time limit
 - Added in flashes of the mirror and peacock, in place of the flash of the hooded figure, because they set the scene and are less confusing for the audience.
 - Cut out some of the background noise in the speech sounds, such as loud bangs, to make it sound clearer.

Feedback

Most of the feedback from our first draft was very positive, where people thought a lot of the clip worked well, which shows an improvement from our last coursework piece.

• A lot of people were concerned with the music, where the second part (The cover of 'Famous Last Words) didn't fit with the genre conventions, which we had tried to seem ironic, but we can change this to make it more understandable.
• Some people also said the title text colour didn't work or fit with the rest of the film, so this is something we can easily change.
• A few people said the longer 'flash' sequence confused them, so this is something we can work on or cut down.
• Our opening ended up being a time of 2:43, when the limit is two minutes, so when we asked the question on which bits to cut out, the only parts people really said were to cut down some of the clips of the couple walking into the building. Apart from this, there wasn't anything else useful for cutting down the time, so we shall work on this ourselves probably in the actual opening credit titles sequence.

More detail on the exact answers: http://www.libertyshawmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/feedback.html

Feedback Form For First Draft

After completing our first draft, we created a feedback form for people to fill in and give us comments.

 

 

Liberty First Draft

Here is the first draft of our second film opening 'Liberty'.

Out-Takes

Out-takes from our film opening 'Liberty':

Credits

As we did in our previous credits, we used Wikipedia to find the order of opening credits that should appear on the film officially, and as well as our main roles, we assigned each other particular roles which would be used on the credits, which is a lot more than in our last project.

• (NAME OF THE STUDIO) (LIONSGATE Studios, the large, existing studio pictures company that we decided our production company should be associated with)

• (NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY) (Masquerade Productions, our own production company)

• STARRING (Kane Mitchell, Abby Haley)

• (FILM'S TITLE) (Liberty, which we will actually have after the credits as part of our revelation and suspense techniques)

• FEATURING (Samuel Snowdon, Alexandra Haley, Liberty Shaw, Liam Hand)

• CASTING or CASTING BY (Alexandra Haley)

• MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY (My Chemical Romance, performed by Eric Wuest)

• PRODUCTION DESIGN or PRODUCTION DESIGNER:

• SET DESIGN and COSTUMES or COSTUMES BY (Alexandra Haley)
• EQUIPMENT TECHNICIAN (Chris Haley, who took us to the location and helped us set up)

• EDITOR or EDITED BY (Rosy Armitage)

• DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (Liberty Shaw)

• PRODUCER or PRODUCED BY (Rosy Armitage)

• STORY or STORY BY (Lili Arlo - a made-up name using the first and second letter of each of our names)

• DIRECTOR or DIRECTED BY (Liam Hand)

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_credits)

Filming

We filmed our video clips on Sunday 3rd March, where on Saturday the 2nd March we spent the day preparing props and costumes, and watching films for inspiration. We drove up to the location in the middle of no-where in North Yorkshire, and spent a lot of time moving furniture around to create our setting, and covering up mis-en-scene that wasn't necessary, as well as changing into costume and doing make-up. We explored the area and decided which parts of the location were best for filming. We then filmed the opening object scenes which we thought we needed for the credits, and then moved onto filming outside shots, followed by all the inside shots. In some cases it took several attempts to get the right shots, but we got a variety. 

We ended up doing a few things differently to our shot list, such as not including the 'blood dripping' scenes as we felt no need for them and found them difficult to film. We also didn't make use of all the rooms, only one room with stairs up to a balcony, as we thought this only had the appropriate lighting and mis-en-scene for our opening. We all varied in roles, with directing and filming and acting, and overall we enjoyed it.

We planned to use this room, but decided it was too cluttered and didn't fit the genre conventions:

A few shots of our setting:

Music

We all decided that the song 'Famous Last Words' by My Chemical Romance would be a good song to use in our opening because it relates very well to our concept of last words, and is a very dramatic and powerful song:

For copyright reasons, we decided to use a cover of the song. We have chosen a violin cover because it seems to fit well with out theme and in some places is almost ironic, but we shall edit is slightly to make it sound more 'creepy', as well as for copyright reasons. The person doing the cover we have asked permission from through YouTube messages, to which he replied saying we can use it, which is a lot simpler than trying to get permission for the original.

We also decided to use the music 'Rising Tension' from a copyright free Youtube channel called 'Bye Bye Copright'. We think this is useful because it creates suspense within the credits to already keep the audience hooked, as well as having quite a calm atmosphere to begin with, which fits well with our imagery, that can create quite an eerie effect to our video.

Film Name

We decided to use the name 'Liberty' for our film, because we firstly thought one word would have more impact than a whole phrase, and it also is a very strong concept in society today. We thought it would be effective if the last words of our victim in our film opening, were also the film title, and so 'Liberty', which means 'freedom', can relate well in the sense that the victim is accepting death as a form of freedom, which works well with the fact he is willingly accepting his death. We first found inspiration for this title from a member of our group's name: Liberty Shaw.

Risk Assessment

Here is the risk assessment drawn up by Liam, which we used to take safety precautions in order to do our filming.

Storyboard

Here are our storyboards for the filming of our opening:

More information on Rosy Armitage's blog HERE

Name Ideas

Here is a spider diagram of the name ideas for our film:

Shot List

Link to the shot list we created in order to film our movie opening:

Shot List

Film Inspirations Analysis

Black Swan
Black Swan is a psychological ballet thriller film, where the opening scene involves purely ballet dancing. This  is portrayed in a blank room surrounded by shadows, as if it isn't real, or in a dream-like state. This fits its psychological conventions, because it keeps the audience wondering what is actually going on. Something else that fits these conventions is the transformation of the protagonist's male dance partner, into a raven-like figure, to already show the deviations from norm, hallucination, as well as the representation of danger, which is an effect we can try to create to fit the conventions of our psychological thriller. The music is a swan lake song, which is an implications of what is to come, further in the story, as well as being ironic to the element of danger, however the beats and change in volume show tension build up, which is the type of music we can consider to build suspense in an ironic-style way. The pale colours of the protagonist represent innocence, and how at the start of the story, the character is innocent and free. It contrasts with the shadowed background to give connotations of 'good vs evil' within the story line, Levi-Strauss's binary opposites theory. The variety of camera angles and fast cutting speed as the suspense builds is an effective way to keep the audience hooked and on edge in the scene, making them want to watch the rest of the film - a technique we are aiming for, so we can take inspiration from the way this clip is edited. 

Insidious

Insidious is a paranormal horror film that has elements that are psychologically disturbing for the audience, which made it a film that inspired me for the idea of our new film the most. The beginning clip shows a boy asleep from a birds-eye-view, with an effect that makes it almost a dream-like state and makes the audience think there's something not quite right. This is followed by panning shots to reveal a silhouette, which then zooms in to reveal a scary-looking woman, making the audience feel uncomfortable. The title text appears suddenly in a red jagged font, to fit the conventions of the genre. The rest of the opening is simple, with mostly short clips of significant rooms of the house in which the film is set, which sets the scene effectively, and gives implications for the rest of the film, such as the additions of paranormal representations like things moving or shadows appearing, which keeps the reader hooked into the opening, whilst the credits are still appearing. There is a black and white effect a tint to the clips, with outlining shadows, to also give a dream-like effect as if the scene if isn't quite real, or not quite into the story yet. This inspired me most with the idea for our video, where we can use specific or relevant objects from the setting, in order to set the scene and incorporate the opening credits into, with an effect on to create a mysterious atmosphere. There are a lot of different angles to create certain effects, such low-angle shots to make the haunted room look superior, or panning and tilting shots to create an abstract psychological effect, to fit with its stereotypical conventions and be disturbing for the audience, which is effects we can consider for our film opening to make a certain atmosphere. To also add to the atmosphere, the transitions are long, smooth fades, too add a sense of eeriness, which is something also involved in our idea. The cutting speeds are long, which creates tension in a different way to the typical fast cutting speeds, because it creates anticipation and anxiousness. This plays with the audience's minds, which is the aim of the genre. The titles fade in and out with a smoky effect, to add to the atmosphere and fit with the sound effects to seem mysterious, along with the red colour to stand out and fit with the theme, connoting fear and danger for the audience. 

Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is the film that we took most inspiration from in terms of storyline. It involves an opening sequence of establishing, panning and close-up shots to set the scene and establish a mysterious atmosphere, which is even more effective in black and white, something we can also consider. The mis-en-scene includes tall, iron gates and a large spooky looking mansion house. This also adds to the element of mystery and keeps the audience wondering, which is a convention of the psychological genre we are trying to create. There is a close-up of Kane's face, as he says his last words before he dies, in a whisper-like accent, which seems secretive, and does not make sense to the audience, especially when his last word is 'rosebud', something that is unusual, yet powerful, which is the effect we shall think about, with our storyline, which also involves last words being spoken at the beginning of the film to keep the audience gripped and to wonder what they mean for the rest of the film. A lot of cross-fades are used to make smooth yet serene seeming transitions, to also keep the audience hooked, which is a useful effect which has inspired me for use in our project. The cutting speed is slow, to also reflect this transition.

Silent Hill

Silent Hill is a psychological horror film based on its video game, which inspired me a lot for our project again in terms of storyline, where there are ritualistic torturous scenes involved, and all in a dream-like 'dead' state, where there are people and creatures about that the audience are curious and confused by, which is something we want to achieve. I chose to look more at the end credits instead of the opening credits, because there is more of a sequence involved that I can gain ideas from. The whole of this section is animated, which relates to the video game, which gives it some striking effects that keep the audience interested, and even includes animated objects and people that relate to the rest of the film, that the audience will associate with. The fast action of the changing camera angles also keeps the audience hooked, as if they can't look away from the screen just in-case they miss something, as well as representing the fast action and danger that is involved within the rest of the film. Using photographs of the cast as their names appear I thought was an effective way to make the audience relate to them and feel more involved with recognition, as well as to create a contrast to the shadows surrounding it, to create an eerie and disturbing effect to fit the genre conventions, which is something important for us to consider. The camera goes through different parts of the setting, but not quite revealing all of it, to keep the audience gripped in wanting to see more, but it also sets the scene in order for the audience to again make reference to. The music is ironic, where it doesn't fit with the typical genre conventions. This creates a contrast effect, that is effective to make it dramatic and memorable, and in ways makes the audience find it more disturbing, which then does fit the conventions. This is a useful outcome that would work well with the film opening we are trying to create. 

Roles Of Group

Alexandra Haley - Costume and Set Design (mis-en-scene)/Actress/Director of Casting
Liberty Shaw - Director of Photography/Actress/Director of Music
Rosy Armitage - Director of Editing/Producer
Liam Hand - Director/Executive Producer/Actor

Extra People involved:
Samuel Snowdon - Actor
Kane Mitchell - Actor
Abigail Haley - Actress

Mis-en-scene

Set:

The setting we have chosen is located in the Buckden area of North Yorkshire, which is owned by a friend. It is an old, abandoned church which was once a school, with an abandoned morgue in an adjoining room. It contains old dusty furniture, with an old balcony at the back of the church, and ornate glass windows. These parts of the mis-en-scene will look odd and almost uncomfortable for the audience. The morgue looked like a perfect location for the idea of the death sentence/last words scene, and the church could be useful to set the scene with an old, eerie, lonely atmosphere. It is a stereotypical location for the genre we have chosen, as well as for more extreme horror genres. The setting of the opening is important because it will keep the audience interested for the rest of the film, and sets up the theme for the rest of the story.

 
 

Costume:

The teenagers in our idea will be in normal everyday clothes, so the audience can relate to them. The character being killed will be dressed in dark colours, to make him look mysterious and almost dangerous, which would make his last words more powerful. His killers will be dressed in lab coats, to make them look like the authoritative people in charge, as well as making it clear they are like 'doctors' or 'professionals' injecting him with drugs. The white coats will also contrast with the dark location, to make them look odd or out-of-place. To further show this, they will have very distinct make-up to make them look quite disturbing or uncomfortable for the audience, which would fit with our genre. I took inspiration from the film 'Insidious' with the smiling family, where they are made up to look like dolls, with exaggerated lipstick and eye make-up, and distinct but still facial expressions, to also look psychologically disturbing. This family are also in the astral plane setting of the film, almost a dream-like state, which is an effect we can try to create. 

Insidious - The Smiling Family scene

Genre/Narrative

We all agreed that the genre of our film piece would be a 'psychological thriller' because we thought it would be something challenging and interesting to work with in order to suit a target audience. We have been inspired by other films of this genre, or horror films that have a psychologically disturbing nature, because these types of films keep an audience drawn into the film because it keeps their minds wandering.

 Our idea for the narrative is inspired by films such as 'Citizen Kane', where the last words before death are revealed at the start, and the rest of the film is working out what the words meant. As we are only making the beginning of a film, we will make this clear in the title. 

Here is a short summary of our narrative idea:

•   A teenage, possibly drunken couple stumble into an abandoned church, looking for somewhere to possibly shelter, or to investigate it. There will be a few establishing shots of outside the church, and some over-shoulder shots, to introduce the setting, and give opportunity for the credits to start appearing. There will be eerie music starting at this point.
•   The couple enter the church and the music stops to emphasise echoes and sound effects, where there is dusty up-turned furniture, a high balcony, and old-fashioned windows, letting in just enough light for the audience to see the interior. There will be shots of each distinct 'disturbing' or 'unusual' part of the church, where credits will also appear. These clips or photos could appear with credits before the actual film sequence appears, in order to give the audience a sense of familiarity when the couple enter the church, and to set the scene more effectively.
•    The couple either investigate further, or hear a noise coming from another room, to which they walk over and peek around the door and keep quiet as they watch the scene inside, as more music begins to start and build tension.
•   The focus is taken off the couple and is drawn into the scene in the room, which looks like an old-fashioned abandoned morgue.
•   A man is willingly being strapped a stretcher-type bed or table almost ceremoniously, and the room is lit by candles. The people strapping him down 'look' strange and out-of-place to the audience, where they would look like 'dolls' in lab-coats with extreme make-up and facial expressions.
•   One of these people say to the man whilst smiling "any last words?" followed by a shot of a needle moving towards his arm.
•   There is a close up of the man's face as he shuts his eyes. The title screen then comes on, as he whispers his last phrase, which will also be the name of the title.