Presentation

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Lodge Hill

Our final project!

Freaky Friday!

Well, it was an unfortunate Friday! As we sat there feeling quite smug with ourselves feeling that we had fully completed our project, as we were just about to watch our final version full screen our computer froze, not thinking much of this we left it for a little while after 20 minuets of waiting we assumed shutting down our computer and restarting it wouldnt cause any issues, as we'd already saved the work. Well boy were'nt we wrong! As we restarted the computer we soon realised that some parts of our project were missing, so we panicked but it turned out alright in the end but we still have to reshoot our opening but that shouldnt be too much of a problem.

Cleaning up the project!

Finally, we finished editing! or so we thought! Watching back what we thought was a completed horror opening we found problems with some of the scenes which we found to either lack continuity or seemed to bring down the whole tension which we tried to build up. We racked our brains and couldn't think of a way to fix it, so we decided to consult in our teacher who gave us the simple yet effective of idea of simply changing the effect on the scenes, which worked perfectly!

Seeing our final project and just moving around the music as everytime we make it syncronise it seems to alter itself everytime we leave the computer, so we have been continually moving things around to make sure they fit and that they are.

music and sound

Attempting to find the right music and sound for this, has seemed to be one of the most difficult processes but finally we've actually found the right sound that fits perfectly.

We thought the music we used was vital in helping us to build up the tension especially in the middle section, we felt something was missing and it wasn't a well planned silence, but now we have a collected a mixture of sounds, songs and beats and coordinated them so that they all are completely syncronsied so that it works.
We've also used a scream which was adapted from a clip from the film Home Alone film which at first i wasn't too sure was going to work however adding it into the clip slowing it down and reducing the volume really did seem to make it more realistic and fitted well with the story.

Location:Woolwich

We finally decided to film at an abandoned primary school in Woolwich. We took a few photos because we were unable to film that day. However, we will return to film at the weekend as we really liked the way the building had broken windows and burnt walls, which helped add a sinister atmosphere which will be perfect for or horror film. Although, we have decided to keep the name 'Cane Hill' as it is original.
However when we arrived there we realised that there was no way in it so we decided to go to another location.

Test shots

These are the test shots for our horror film, we practiced the shots during our media lesson. We followed the shots from the storyboard. This will help us when we come to actually film the real thing.

Photos

we decided to take some photos to uses for our opening. we needed photos showing us as dead patients s we experimented with a combination of lights, torches, and powder to create a pale effect.

Here are the photos we took:

Horror Film Ideas

We started to think about ideas for our horror film opening by individually coming up with ideas and then discussing them as a group.

Zara's ideas

• psychological
• creepy setting
• mystery
• young cast possibly a big group

Alex's ideas

• use of lights
• maybe someone is trapped and one escapes
• writing on a bathroom mirror and a reflection behind
• someones see someone getting attacked but it is a clone of them
• cliff hanger

Stephen's ideas

• clown mannequin
• use of lighting-when its light everything is fine then it flashes dark and things start to move

Summer's ideas

• asylum
• flash back in to the past
• teenagers break in and try brink back the dead
• someone storms off and found dead

We then started to develop our ideas and bring them together, we all agreed that there should be an element of mystery and that you should not see the killer, also that it should be psychological rather than gore. We then agreed on:

• group of friends
• use of hand held
• abandoned warehouse
• friends think its funny

We then expanded on this and began to develop a basic plot:

• it would be a group of friends that our looking to have fun and mess around
• they talk about the rumours of where they are going which starts to scare some people
• someone goes missing when the lights go off and we start to panic

We decided we would open with various articles and pictures of the abandoned location we are going to. The ending we decided would be of us all running away and the camera would be left on the floor to see our feet run away. We decided that it would be all hand held but then decided that hand held would not show off our potential and convey the right meaning so we decided to use a range of shots.

We then thought about what is normally included in the opening of horror film so that we know what to include and decided we needed:

• introduction of main characters
• setting of location
• credits of actors, directors, producers, production company
• genre through conventions e.g music
• engage the audience to keep watching

Horror Film Openings

Today as a class we were all set the task of researching our personal choice of a film opening and ask to make an analysis of it which we were then asked to present to the class.

I (Summer) chose House of Wax which i found quite interesting as its use of an uncanny setting in both the modern day part and the 1974 section which as it opens with what appears to be a normal family home based in a kitchen, a place that potentially has many dangers in, where a young child an  mother are having breakfast. the opening to house of wax is not particularly frightening but it's odd as it uses to scenarios which at the time seem totally unrelated.
We feel sympathy for the family in beginning as it shows a young boy being restrained and see as quite a pain to his family as this seems like an everyday process for this family. The combination of diegetic and non diegetic sound was well used as it helped to show us the difference in times as well as area, the most interest part of the opening is that even though we seen at least 4 minuets of a family home we never see any of the families faces we only ever see below the shoulders regardless of the high angle shots.

Alex chose Donnie Darko as she found it to be fairly unsettling as the opening goes straight into the story line which begins to seem quite simple like just a slightly strange family who don't really get alone whereas other horrors typically show something slightly more devious however the tension does get built slightly later this is indicated where the usual diegetic sound of conversations suddenly changes as we begin to hear a piano score over the top. The opening lulls us into a false sense of security as it seems to us to be quite normal until we realise that there is something a bit different about this particular family mainly the leading protagonist Donnie.

Steven chose Halloween which he found that he the opening which shows the young boy wearing a mask which causes a lot of controversy amongst his house hold. Steven found that the mask seems to be the key item in this opening scene which helps with the unravelling of the film as we instantly realise that the young boy & this mask is going to be the focal point of the film as a lot of attention is paid to it especially when the young boy (Michael) is wearing in the mirror wearing the mask and the camera is slightly blurred and at a canted angle which helps show the confusion and the fear that lies within the mask.

'Final Destination 3' analysis

We looked at a clip from 'Final Destination 3'. We were split in to groups and were assigned different micro-elements to look at and collected a large set of notes as a group and here are the notes we collected:

MISE EN SCENE:

• the darkness of their clothes suggests mystery and creates a dark, foreboding atmosphere
• sparks of of the wheels when it starts to break shows danger especially when we cut to it which draws our attention and shows us the danger
• flames in the background shows imminent danger and adds a twist to a stereotypically enjoyable place
• motivated lighting all happens in the dark however light coming from the ride and other fairground amusements
• the roller coaster itself is red & black which highlights the danger of the ride by using such provoking colours
• there appears to be a leak in the wires which is red which symbolises blood
• an uncanny setting of a carnival is usually associated with fun

EDITING:

• slow cuts creates tension
• faster cuts are used when there on the roller coaster as it matches characters feeling capturing the confusion and fear and builds up pace
• match cut is used when her premonition ends and she is back to reality (shot of her eye)
• quick cuts are used to shoot to the leaky pipes and the chains and the wheels that are sparking which builds pace but also shows the audience what is happening and draws our attention to them
• cutaway cuts away from the main action again showing us something that the characters cannot see

SOUND:

• first real sound is roller coaster ascending = music is in minor keys= builds tension
• sound goes= shows it just focus's on the action
• when things go wrong= music restarts and the pace picks up  and it follows the movement of the roller coaster
• volume changes when the roller coaster is moving up and down the track
• when she starts screaming music becomes dramatic
• when everything goes wrong it all goes silent
• no speech on the roller coaster apart from the occasion excited shouts
• irony= as when they are on the roller coaster they scream & shout
• use of expletives show age
• scream edits into her hyperventilating when she comes back to reality
• rattling, hissing and chains show the chaos and the fact that they are unable to control the situation (lots of unnatural sounds)
• ride seemed isolated as there was no other background sound other than the one from the ride and those on it

CAMERA SHOTS:

• 2 shots= smiling all happy, repeated frequently when they are on the ride to show the excitement
• point of view= audience feels like they are on the ride
• close up= of the wheels then to the people and then back to something else going wrong on the ride
• contrast between her feelings before the ride and those after it
• long shot of the boy in a yellow jacket= makes him stand out and we remember how he dies and as he seems quite obnoxious in the scene we feel less sympathy for him
• low angle shots= of the roller coaster shows that the roller coaster is more threatening than it appears to look
• canted angles= show that the disorientation and confusion of everyone in the shot, audience are able to capture their fears etc.

'The Ring' analysis

Directed By: Hideo Nakata
Made In: 1998

Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Made In: 2002


We watched the original Japanese 'The Ring' ('Ringu') and the 2002 American re-make: 'The Ring'. As a group we all found the Japanese version to be much more tense as it featured a more effective use of camera angles, mise en scene, sound and editing. The original featured popular conventions, including mystery, revenge and the supernatural, such as ghosts, and the re-make brought these conventions into the 21st century, making it even more relateable for the audience.

Preliminary Task

We planned, filmed and edited our preliminary task to show various different camera angles and shots. We had to include a match cut, the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot.