Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.

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'Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' I watched this movie with my mum the other day and I have to admit I was really scared!

The film is set in the 19th century and Sweeney Todd has arrived in London along with others, including a sailor. The plot basically is that Fifteen years ago, Sweeney was a barber, married to his wife when a corrupt Judge set his fancied his wife and had Benjamin arrested and sent off to prison. Now seeking revenge, Sweeney sets up shop above the restaurant where his former landlady, the worst meat pies in town. Learning that Turpin has his now grown-up daughter locked away. Sweeney decides to lure the judge into his barbershop and slit his throat with one of his rusty razors to get revenge. The judge gets away the first time Sweeney sees hm but takes his anger out on other vctims by slittingtheir throats, You then see the woman cutting up the remans to put in her pies!
With Turpin determined to marry the horrified Johanna, Sweeney waits for his next chance to get the judge in his barber's chair to get his revenge on him.

The whole movie is basically a flashback of the past, which is Sweeney getting revenge. On each murder there is a negative effects with a razor blade sound. Also the film hasn't got vibrant coulour which I noticed, it's all very dull which is similar to our film as it's shot at night mode.
This is such a good effect which would go well with our film! This was exactly the type of flashback I was thinking for our movie!
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Friday the 13th

Effects and Transitions

Today I watched Friday the 13th on sky movies and it was really good!
Many of the effects fit in well with the scenes. In one scene I noticed there is a white transaction from the room is dark, this is what we were thinking of putting in between each flash back, also some negative effects.
This film is quite similar to our openings as you see the killer strike then the rest follows on. Hopefully we'll be able to create similar effect to those used in this film.
The music in this film was quite dramatic whereas in our film it will be more calm, however the music will have an edge and that's what I like about it.

Film edit and changes - 1

first draft of film.

As our group have been trying to get our filming finished we haven't had much time to get editing done recently. We still have allot to go as adding more scene builds up the pressure. Here is a snippet of our work so far.




It's important to get audience feedback at each stage of the film so you can collect it all together and improve and edit things people point out.
We've already shown one viewing to a year 10 group.
They seemed to really enjoy, We've decided to add 'Damian Rice' music to our film. Or recreate something similar. Although this isn't a typical horror music style, we thought it would build up tension. The class seemed to really like the music and agreed with us that it builds up tension and was excited to see what happens next.
However some girls found the music sounded more of a romance genre than a horror, however when we re-create the music we'll be adding other effects and beats on top.
We hope to do another viewing to get more audience response in the near future!

Futher music research

Youtube research

Looking on YouTube for some more music clips to fit in with our film I found a few. We want the music to be calm and instrumental, but also edgy. This might be a little difficult to replicate on garage band, but not too hard. Starting from about 1:26 I thought was a calm and edgy melody.
I thought this could be used for when the victim is being chased, although the scene is dramatic we need something in the background to break up the visuals.

Audience response

School showing

Our group have been extended our ideas to make our film into a two minute opening rather than a film. We found faults in our film when showing this to our teacher and a year 11 class. Although everyone really liked it, it was kind of a film not an opening as it had a beginning, middle and an end. This made us re-think about our ideas to follow on.
Bearing in mind we've already filmed most of the scene we just need a few extra too carry on the story line so the audience will want to watch more. We've come up with two ideas we're going to film to see which one fits in better. We have the camera over the Christmas holidays so we'll be filming soon.

First Idea:

- We see the killer getting out from his van. We see the killer in his layre and see him sticking hair to a newspaper article.
- Two girls laying flowers outside there friends house
- Police men talking about the killings
- Then we see flash backs of previous killings:
(Girl strapped to a chair, Trisha walking home from laying flowers and seeing a shadow figure)
- We then return to the killer and see him picking up a knife and leaving, then zoom in on some . articles.
- The police then find his layre.

Second Idea.

- Following on from the previous footage we see the victims best friend laying flowers outside the victims house with the killer lurking in the background.
- She starts to walk home and notices he's following her so she starts running then he catches . . . her.

We're thinking of filming both ideas and seeing which fits in best depending on time. We hop to get this done by the Christmas holidays.

Questionairre

I conducted a questionnaire from 20 people to get feedback and more a background impression to what the audience think of films. I collected qualitative and quantitative data to get a statistics and rich data to help me with my research into my film. Here are a few of the main questions:

1. Are you male or female.
I asked this to see if films were genre specific. However this wouldn't make a difference. Most of the people I questioned were females anyway.

2. How old are you?
I think this question is of relevance because this would help me decide on the age certificate and to aim my film towards this age.

3. what is your favourite genre of film?
It was important to see what my audience's favourite genre was as they would be the ones to watch it so it's their opinion which counts. My results show me that 14 our of 20 people enjoyed thriller/horror the most. Most people circles More then 2 genres which shows romance the second highest. This question was then elaborated to why this would be your favourite. Most people commented on the scariness and unpredictable stereotype of thrillers. In my film I would want aspects to jump out and be scary.

4. which gene did you dislike the most and why?
Most people seemed to dislike musicals, western and action. I think this was because I aimed my questionnaire on 16 - 18 year old girls. This would have an impact on the genre as if i asked a male the least favourite is like to be romance.

5. Does the opening first two minutes of a film give a perception to the rest of the film?
I asked this question as I'm making a two minute film so I need the audiences opinion. This will help me decide What kind of footage to add. For example more action packed and the credits.

6. what way of advertising do you find most appealing when a film is advertised?
This is and important question because if I were to publish this film I would have know the best possible advertising scheme. The best advertising approach to films was bus advertisements and TV adverts.

Damian Rice

Damian Rice

For our music our group were thinking of having a calm melody with instruments such as the violin and piano as it will set a tranquil setting, but will also be tense for the audience due to the visuals. The music contrasts with the film, but sets a good atmosphere for the scenes, also creating sounds effects to go on top of the music.
We'll be re-creating music from ideas we've picked up making our music at garage band.
One our group have been looking at is Damian Rice '9 chimes' This music has a soft melody but with the help of sound effects is easy to replicate and gives an edge.

Film ideas - improvements

Film Ideas

So today we had another discussion to discuss other ideas and to improve ideas in the progress. We need to keep in mind that were doing a two minute film opening, not a film. Many of our ideas previously have been changed and a new twist added to make viewers be enticed to see more of it. Here are some improvement ideas we came up with:

• 1. There will be a pan shot of friends laying flowers outside the bath victims house. We will decorate the house and outside to look like a crime scene. we then focus behind them to see the killer in the back ground which will be slightly blurred.
• 2. There will be a two shot of police men showing how seriousness of the case thinking it could be a serial killer.
• 3. There is again a pan around of the killers layre to his wall e.g. pictures and hair of the girls he has killed then going on to quick flash backs of a couple of his murders to give more of an insight to the story. He then picks up a knife and leaves.
• 4. We then see an over the shoulder shot from the killers point of view to the girl as he's walking behind them.
• 5.The police find the killers house and run into it realising he's not thee but find all the evidence. he police will b shown running in at a low angle shots of their feet to show suspense and the panic surrounding. probably with a hand held camera.
• 6. Then we see the girl shut her front door and curtains and sit down but out the back we see the killer standing outside through the glass window.

Adding these extra scene will create a story to carry on (an opening) which audiences will be excited to watch more. We are thinking of having dialogue in the police scene.

New ideas.

Film changes

Whilst having a talk to Miss foster on Friday our group have had discussions to change parts of our film and then add a new story line. We've been thinking about our film and the criteria says an opening to a film. Looking back on our story line so far our film adds most of the gore and horror it he first two minutes leaving no cliffhanger or tension to add. If our film was getting marketed you wouldn't want to watch this as most of the excitement is in the opening!
However we are still going to keep our footage but just add more to keep the story line going and making people want to watch it.
Miss foster mentioned having a serial killer so the story goes on. Like that in 'Se7ev' when the seven sins are carried out and the police find out its a serial killer. This film is probably one of the best films I've seen making me want to watch it again; this is how people should feel about our film, but at the moment you see everything and so no suspense is left.
One of our group members Danielle is moving house soon and we seen this as a disadvantage, however now we've realised this can be added as a whole new twist in our extract and be used to our advantage.

The idea is to have the 'next' victim moved house because she's worried. (this will be after previous killings) and various shots of the house in boxes. As we can have access to Danielle's new house it will be empty. We're going to have the next victim sitting in a corner rocking with a high angle shot to show he weakness and vunerabilty. The density for the shot will be very plain and bare to emphasise she's moved house and the fact she's scared.

Costumes.

The girl will also be in white to portray innocence with a possible item of clothing which stands out in red to portray danger maybe. Miss Foster was saying to us to maybe have police in our film to carry on the story so it looks like there looking into a murder case. However as our budget is low we cannot afford various costumes so will have to economise with black trousers and white shirt, maybe a police badge and hat.
Another effect we were discussing was having chunks of blonde hair in the previous bath death with blood on it. Then we decided for the previous victims add a memorial form each victim and stick it to each article in his layer to show he's proud of his work. Like that in se7ev when the police find his layer.
Althought the killer is the main protagonist in the fim were not to sure if we should see him again after the first killing.
Following on from the blonde hair idea we then thought of having all the victims blonde so this will create tension if the film was to be produced as audience's would narrow down the victims and be scared for every blonde girl. We just thought this would be an effective principle in our film.

These idea are early days, but tomorrow we will have a group discussion to plan out the next sequence and storyboard it!

Paranormal Activity

Cinema Trip

Wow... what an amazing film!
Tonight my media group and I went to watch 'Paranormal Activity' I did expect the film to of been scarier at the beginning due to media reviews from different sources. The build up of each night leading towards the end created tension and suspense.
The recurring time-coded bedtime sequences make this movie stand out as something special. Unlike other mockumentary films, the shots in Paranormal Activity are long and uncomfortable. Many times the camera remains completely still and, in reality not that much happens. At the end most people squealed; including me!
Another aspect to the film which was effetive was the time at the right hand side of the screen. It showed how long the activities carriedon for making it seem more realsitic; at the same time building suspense.
The film had a resemblance to ours so far as the editing was rough which was part of 'Paranormal Activity' to create a home video effect. The whole of the movie was filmed by a hand held camera, however the night time bits were still framed with a tripod.
Every night the camera would be held on the tri-pod in view of the door way and hall and their bedroom. This holds our suspense as were looking for drama to happen ad even when it does we get scared. The way 'Oren Peli' the directer has thought of this is very clever as not much money has been put into it but is certainly very scary. I think it's to do with the concept of 'the paranormal world' and if it really exists. So because these things are unknown to human kind this ponders mystery and we question if it's real. It is especially effective as their are no credits and the beginning has an opening story to make the audience believe the story line is true.
There were certainly people wondering of it was or not. This links into the film 'Blair Witch' because his film was thought to be true and gave a real mystery!
One of the best features f the film is yo never see the demon or what is possessing her. in our film were using the same theory although ours is a serial murderer. I think this gives a more over all effect as the footage is implied, however may people find that having gore and scary footage is more effective.
I'm looking forward to watching 'Blair Witch' as I've heard so many fantastic reviews. As this film outing was so successful and enjoyable I hope other arrangements will be made in the near future!

Paranormal activity

On Monday the whole of our media group are going to see 'Paranormal Activity' Watching the trailer it look really interesting and similar to all of our film as the film is shot on a hand held camera which is how our editing looks at the moment. This film is relevant to our research as it's a horror and is supposed to be a brilliant film!

Garage band

Music

On Wednesday we started looking at garage band for the first time to try and put together some music. We started playing some beats so see what they sound like and found a really good high pitch sound. I found Garage Band quite hard to use, however when we have a proper tutorial I'm sure we'll find it okay.
I'm really excited to start looking at more sounds. Also doing more research into music to fit our film.

film unstoppable

Unstoppable.

I was watching this movie on channel 5 the other night called unstoppable with wesley snipes the main actor. It was a cross genre between action and thriller which was really interesting. Its about a former Special agent Dean Cage who has been mistaken for a wanted CIA agent, captured by the government, and given mind-controlling drugs that make him deluded and weird. Managing to escape, Cage must now find the antidote for the drugs while fighting the illusions and demons of his own mind, which are easily created and manipulated by the drugs he had been given. There is a scene in the movie where an agent tried to kill him but it's only the shadow of the killer. This is shown by the use of Restricted shots to not let the audience view the characters face. This would make the audience feel tense as they dont know who is the killer. In the film te charactor also walks in front of lights which emphasises the shadow and you see his muscular body shape. The movements made when walking from the light was very slow which created an impression that he was up to something suspicious.

Articles for film.

Tonight I've made some articles for our film. The theme is to add our names into news paper articles and a picture of ourselves for the ending credits. I've also changed the story line to fit in with our story line. This took me a long time to edit them, but will be very effective for our film as we'll have flashing images and special sound effects. Also when we film them I came up with an idea that we could print our fingerprints on each of the articles to add effect, I think it will look quite good.

We should be filming this sequence in the next few weeks, i just wanted to get it over and done with so there available to use what ever day we shoot! Here are the images of the articles I made and a collage of a selection of others that will be flashed at the end with special effects and sounds.

<. Article of myself for credits.

Newspaper article of Trisha for credits. >

<. Article of main story line

Collage of various newsarticles:

Editing day 2

Second day of editing!

Today my group and I managed to edit even more of our film today.
We focused on a small part of our film today because we felt the angles weren't flowing. We also managed to add a few transition to add effect and make parts of our film smoother. We found some really cool transitions which will add to our newspaper effect I mentioned in another post. We haven't yet filmed our new paper credits yet like we planned as we thought we should get he most difficult filming done first. With the newspaper credits my group and I are going to add an effect called 'fade to white' this effect will look really good as it looks as if it's flashing. We thought about doing flash backs with other parts of the film and newspaper articles for the credits at the end to put our names in the newspaper to show our credits, but also to add the effect that their will be other victim which will leave the film on a cliff hanger. In the next few days I'm going to edit some newspaper articles to add our names in the headlines to a article that's relevant to the story line which personally, I think will look effective.
Today we also looked at some sound effects to add to our film. We muted the original sound temporally, but kept some as it sounded effective and added some effects. We added effects like stepping sounds for when the murderer is walking and simple things like the squeak of the gate. We also looked at adding rain sounds because the establishing shot of the house was in rain so this would sound effective and relevant to the picture. These effects are not permanent because when we make our own at garage bank I'm sure we can make them better. This was just to give us an idea into what kind of effects would make our film seem realistic and horror. I'll add a post in the next week of a clip of our film so far.

Editing day 1

Editing day one!

Today was the first day we started to properly edit. Firstly my group and I started to put everything in sequence today, however remembering we having got certain parts of the film. We had to keep this factor in mind so our film will flow. After getting everything in sequence by picking out the parts we intended to use we started to tweak it. We found this very difficult as we learned it's not as easy to get everything to flow. After playing parts back that were edited we realised some of the continuity was incorrect. For example we need to show how the light turned on as in one part it was the dark in the room, next it was light. To over come this problem I was thinking we could take a shot using the emergency camera of the murderer turning on the light. I have to make sure everything flows and the continuity is correct otherwise people can pick up on this. Our film is really coming together even though this was our first proper editing session! We hope to get more done within the next few weeks as this is going to be a long process which will take many monthes. The day we've planned to edit will be on Friday the 27th November.

Uploading first footage

Uploading 2

Today we our group had a de-brief talk about our film after we had uploaded it to our macs!
watching back all our footage was so funny and all the mistakes we made, but obviously these won't be added into our film!
As we have had to give back the cameras yesterday we still have credits to film and parts we missed out. however we did manage to film most of our film within two days.
Today we started to edit parts and put our takes in chronological order because it was not filmed this way. This was because we filmed the hardest part of the filming first which was the bath scene.
As we still have parts to film we will have to access the emergency camera to finish our filming. I never actually realised how time flys as we left filming to the last minute as most of us were busy, next time I have an encounter with something like this i'll have to put filming first. Now I'm just excited to start editing it more and see our film progress.
Tonight I'm going to see the new 'Twilight' movie which will be good; i'll also be looking out for editing techniques their film used to help further my research knowledge.

Second day of filming!

Day two

Today was our second day of filming. We managed to get allot filmed today. We changed our minds about our location as we found a better location to shoot, however we will still be having Danielle's bath scene. In this location the house is really big and has banisters. The banisters was the original shot we wanted to use after seeing the technique in Jane Eyre TV drama and The ring 2002 film. today we filmed the murderer entering the house and establishing shots. We added as much footage as possible just in case it would look good in the film.
It did start to rain today but we made sure the camera stayed dry with an umbrella. I thought the rain made a good impact as we filmed outside because it emphasises the fact our film is a thriller/horror because the scene is very gloom and dim which made it seem more scary and gives us a sense of realism.
Also whilst filming there was a very big rottweiler which kept barking, i thought we could maybe use these sounds in our film somewhere to add effect!
Now I'm just excited to start uploading and editing. At the end of filming we hardly had any battery left which was a slight problem as we didn't charge it the night before as we thought the battery would still be relatively full however in our luck it charged quickly and just scraped getting all our footage. We managed to film everything we needed and more! All we have to film now is the credits which will be of the articles. We found this dark alley way by our location which was actually linked to the house which we filmed the murdered walking up, it was very dark and scary. We also found an old cellar which was part of the house which I thought would be good for the articles on the wall.
I took many pictures on my camera. Here are some pictures of our day filming. In the next week or so we hope to film the rest of our film!



Collage I created on Picasa from our filming day!

First day of filming!

Day one

Today we started filming and I took a lot of photos for the main events that happened and decided to put it into a short collage. The filming went very successfully, but unfortunately we only had time to film one scene as one of our characters couldn't make it so we thought it would be practical if we shot the bath scene. This is because we could film the bath part without the murderer and shoot him in the next few days. We made sure we took pictures of everything in the bathroom so the continuity wasn't wrong or our of place. It took us a long time to set the scene up for Danielle with the blood as it was very easy, also making sure we didn't get any on the carpet! (which of course we did.) We had a few disasters for example Trisha's jacket caught on fire from the candles whilst we were filming! But apart from that it was a successful first day!
We also managed to play around with the lighting. We set the camera onto night mode and turned the lights of. Our source of light form mainly form the candles but also we had bright torch with shined towards the bath which we will need to use for every scene in the bath room.
Our next date we've set to film will be on Wednesday which will have the murder scene in. We aim to film in a different location for the next scene ,although we did not plan this in the start. This is because of a better more suitable location for our script. I also made sure I took pictures of the set incase we had to film again so the continuity would be correct.

Collage of the first day.

Watching Se7en.

Se7en

Last lesson the class watched se7en and it was amazing! It had many great ideas of unique and effective shots in it which could be included in our next film of shooting. i really enjoyed the film' but was very scar at times! It's not a film I would personally watch by myself! Our group are aiming towards giving of the same great impact se7en does to our film!
The David Fincher the director or the film has put together se7en in an amazing and mind twisted way. The mixed horror/action sequences are very cleverly designed and the end just tops it of. In my opinion I probably would be more scared if I seen the head, however it plays on your mind and you see it in your mind. So I can't decide which would be more scary.

Story board

Our story board to help us with filming.

Mise-en-sene.

Why are lighting, location, props and costumes important things in our 2 minute film?

All these key factors set out how my film is going to be like; it shows the era it's also set in. These all give a more realistic and atmospheric feeling for the audience and also he characters to work with. So it gives it the sensation of realism.

Lighting.

lighting is very important in our film aswell as it can be a contrast to the person standing in; so we basically look at the person in focus. So for our film the main focus will be on the man when we see him. Size of the person or object is very important; so obviously our murderer is going to be bigger and muscular. In our film most of it will be shot at night time so we will be using low key lighting to create difused shadows and atmospheric pools of light; this makes thrillers more mysterious.
* Making sure the use of lighing and music both fit in well will make a big impact on the film.
In our film we don't want the density of the picture to be to crowded because we want all the attention on the main characters.

Costume.

Like most thriller movies the murderers are always in black with leather gloves; this is he typical image people have in their heads. In our film were also having the murderer all in black with leather gloves. However I was thinking about the murdered having one type of clothing on him; maybe a scarf? so he stands out the most because of that certain colour because as the lighting is dim he will blend in with the background.

Location.

In our film we will be setting the on at Danielle's house as it fits the criteria well. We want or location to be an old looking building with specific trates inside. For example Danielle has an old looking bath tub which is perfect for the bath scene. We have been testing our locations and made a mini video about each shot we shall take which will be explained in further detail in the next few days when its uploaded.

Props.

The props for our film are very important as without it our film wouldn't seem as scary. The use of a knife is a common symbol in thriller movies; also the use of candles as this creates danger, as does the knife.

Research into music.

Music

Our group need to start thinking of music to include with our film. As the music Will be
Non-Diegetic and only the audience will hear it, we don't need to know yet. However it is a good idea to have a rough idea so we can fit each scene accordingly.
we need to create our own music that would be symbolic for our film, lots of films in the horror genre have creepy or chilling music with them, but it is all recognisable after a while in that film since normally it is played more than once.

For example in the film one missed call the sound motive is a special ringtone on peoples phone, it is played quite a few times so the audience gets used to it and knows what is going to happen when it is played, but also every time it is played it is going to have the same effect on the audience.




The same with all the Jaws films, the music becomes well known to the audience so we know what to expect when we hear the well known music from the film.

we need calm music for our film, since its evening and someone is having a bath, I decided to research creepy but calm music as the sound forms expectations form imagery you've seen before also giving tension and anticipation.
I came across this piece which i thought was an amazing example, because though it is calm it is also sad and I think if something like this was on our film it might make the audience want to watch and find out whats going to happen.

music found.

The Ring

The 'Ring' (2002)

I was browsing through horror/thriller clips today and The 'Ring' 2002 came up so I watched part of it. Part of the stair sequence in the film was a girl going up the stairs gripping the banister and then you see a high angle shot of the girl through the banister. This is what we planned to do as it really does show affect and tense. I love the high angle shot through the banister because it shows power showing the girl is the vulnerable character. This is the part where tension also builds up so adding as many high angle, canted angle etc. shots will empower the tension even more.

Psycho Hitchcock shower scene

The famous shower scene:




In this video I found whilst doing some research it fits our scene perfectly except shes in the shower.

We see her turn on the shower, everything seems normal. In our film the bath will be running whilst shes getting undressed and lighting candles.

The shower is a very vulnerable place to be. The girl is naked so she has no defence, she can't hear anything because of the sound of the water. In our scene the girl will be in the water so she has no defence as she is laying down; vulnerable.

The low angle shot from the shower head is also very interesting because it shows how vulnerable you can get even when your just having a shower; in our film I'm thinking we could maybe add a high angle shot of the girl in the water to show shes vulnerable in the bath.

At about 30seconds into the film the girl is no longer the main focus but the cameras main focus is on the door with the girl to the right then you see a man come in; the girl doesn't know the figures there yet, which adds suspense. In our bath scene were not going to see the man enter the door we'll just see the silhouette of the man striking the curtain to add effect. This will confuse the viewer kind of and make the story more creepier. As it's going to be filming at night time their will be low Key lighting meaning the viewer cannot see who is holding the knife; in the whole movie no-one will see the killers face, this will add suspense to the film. The music here is also quick and dramatic adding to the suspense. The girl in this shower scene is terrified & her reaction makes the viewer scared. in or film were going to have very quick dramatic shots of the girl with blood, adds to the suspense and the horror of the situation. The viewer will become scared thinking it could happen to them. There's a sustained shot of the blood trickling through the bath into the plug hole. In our film were going to have the blood form the knife take out the candles. This ill show the end of the girls life. This will show a close up of the knife and the blood. This creates tension and prolongs the effect.

When I watched this scene I found it scary, after looking at it in a lot of detail I can see that it has been reconstructed I a professional manner making sure they included all the key facts and rules of a horror/thriller scene.

extended story board

Here is our extended story board for our two minute film:

• Pan across of newspaper articles on a wall lit up by torch in the dark. These articles will show the frame the story
• Quick close-ups of some articles. e.g flashing one to another
• Over shoulder of man looking at the wall with articles on. (dressed all in black.)
• Establishing shot showing the girls House. (canted pan across)
• P.O.V shot from the man looking outside the house to the window. (shadow)
  
• Light goes of in window of room
  
• Close up on mans hand on gate(leather gloves) squeaky noise add suspense
• Cut away to girl lighting candles around a running bath
• Cut back to man walking up the stairs (slowly and canted angles on 1st step)
• Shot reverse shot of girl dropping dressing gown to the floor. (see slide of shoulder)
• Behind see the bottom of her legs
• Cut back to him half way up the stairs (banister scene/ canted angle) low lighting.
• Shot reverse shot to her stepping into the bath. (see back of calf)
  
• Then close up of his hand gripping the banister
• Cut back to girl relaxing in the baths (bubbles)
• Music changes to more dramatic/faster/ scary music.
• Quick shots of silhouette of man holding knife through shower curtain
• Girl grips side of the bath
• See blood everywhere on bath and curtain etc.
• Music changes again to slow high pitched
  
• See girl slowly go under water blood marked on bath.
• See medium shot of man hand with knife and dripping blood from the knife onto candles (go out)
• The scene fades to black
• Back to mans room and see man add the last pin to Danielle's picture photo on the wall
• Quick flashing images of me and Trisha to show we're the next victims.
• (all the other articles have finger prints to show they've been killed)
• All our names are shown in the articles for the credits.

This extended storyboard is the framework for our film we should be filming in the next week or so. I will be producing a storyboard as well to help us film our two minute piece. we then shall be ready to film and be properly organise to know how each sequence of our film is conducted.

opening credits research

Credits

For our credits our group were thinking of having them at the end of the film as this would be significant to the beginning. At the beginning we are going to have previous victims shown in news paper articles on a wall to show of the killer’s pride. So at the end our names are going to be put into an article with our picture to show that were the next victims. The camera would pan across these in a canted angle to seem scarier. The music to this clip would have to be very tense, quick and scary.
This gives of a cliff-hanger to show that the story has not ended yet.
Also if this were to be a published film then there could be carried on films like:
Saw1, saw2 etc.
As our film will be set at night shining a torch across the credits would be effective.
For each victim at the beginning we were thinking of putting fingerprints of the victims to add effect; apart from at the end where the next victim’s names are there would be no finger prints. At the end I was thinking about a slow water droplet sound add it would seem scary.

Bath Murders

Background research to our 2min film
The 'brides in the bath' murders.
My independent research into our film

Whilst watching a documentary on discovery channel I came across documentaries about a group of men who murdered a number of women in their bath at home. I found this very significant to the background of our film.
The men involved where named:
George Joseph, Charles James, Henry Williams and John Lloyd.
These four men were all found guilty of the murders of three women named:
Bessie Williams who was found dead in her bath in 1912,
Alice Burnham who was found dead in her bath 1913,
And Margaret Lofty who was found dead in her bath in 1914,
The four murders' all plotted against these innocent women to kill them all in the same way. They wore black leather jackets and black leather gloves. They had planned these killing for years watching each woman.
Each killing was consecutive to another. All four watched their victims for a long period of time before striking.
Charles, Henry and John had all broken in their house before to know their way around and get a key.
On each year one would happen first it was Bessie in 1912, then Alice in 1913, then Margaret in 1914.
George Joseph however was married to Bessie and killed for her money.

As this is a true life story and my group and I film is going to be based on a girl being murdered in a bath; I found this story very significant as now this could be the frame of our film. Although this real life story is not that well known as such of 'Jack The Ripper' I thought in fact this could give the film an advantage as people could be more engaged with to the story to know what happened; especially if they knew it was based on a non-fiction story. Also audience response is very important as if the film was getting published you'd want to sample it on a small group of people to see what their reaction is; if it was poor people aren't going to be motivated enough to it. We had a taster of this when we had audience response back from our preliminary task.

Rough Ideas.

Initial Ideas

*.My group and I have been thinking about ideas to include In our two minute film. We are quite positive to do thriller/horror. This category is a good choice I think as it is quite easy to do, but effective so we can get as many marks as possible
*.For the music we are thinking about having a very creepy themed music which will be played throughout the film as we are not going to use dialogue. We want the music to fit in with each part of the film so it will vary depending on the part of the film. For example if the scene is very tense and scary the music will alter according to this and be very tense.

*.One of the first ideas we came up with was a bath scene when she goes under the water and drowns; we got this idea from the Britney Spears video (Every time)
This idea related to the thriller/horror theme as it could give suspense to the plot. The music would also give the audience that extra edge.



For the first shot we’ve decided use an establishing shot of Daniele’s front house. We decided to use Danielle’s house as the location for the set because her house is big, practical and easy location to film on. Danielle also has big gates which creek so this would be very effective for our film. I got this idea from the movie ‘drag me to hell’ as the first establishing shot is good.



Here the main characters would live then a man dressed in all black would enter the front of the building through the gate. The squeaking noises from the gate would give a creepy effect giving suspense.

In the first scene the camera would first pan around the front of the house then zooming closer in to the front gates when the open.
The second scene would be inside the house; so the camera will cut away from outside into inside. Then will show the girl getting ready to have a bath and her lighting candles around the bath, a close up of her taking off the dressing gowned so we can only see her shoulders and head from behind, then a close up of the dressing gown on the floor as she steps out of it.

After the girl is shown getting into the bath you see the man in black walking up the stairs. The camera will be behind him so the audience will not see his face. Then a close up of his hand will be shown as he will be wearing red gloves; as he is all in black we need a bold colour to show he is the dominant one in this scene. This creates tension as the audience do not know who it is which makes the plot more mysterious.

From the part of the scene where the man is walking up the stairs my group and I have research other films and found a scene similar to ours. We’ve decided to base our match on action stair sequence on the shots from the film ‘Jane Eyre’ as we loved the effect of a high angle shot and a close up through the banisters; this also shows how the man is in more dominant as he about to commit a crime.



The next part we are thinking of the girl in the bath unaware of the man, then a quick cut to make it scary of the mans silhouette holding a knife through the shower curtain, this may be in slow motion to add suspense and tension.

Furthermore we are going to have quick cut to the girl covered in blood in the bath and slowly going under the water, this will show the audience that she is dead and should hopefully be scary to watch. Again this come from the idea of the Britney Spears video ‘every time'



As an ending shot we are going to have the knife drip blood onto one of the candles putting out the light. At this stage this is just a rough outline of the film with other ideas to come. As we will be filming in the next few weeks we need to make our ideas much stronger and also think about getting a in-depth story board completed as this will make filming a lot easier.

Se7en opening.

Se7en

These opening credits are probably the best I've seen. As soon as they start your left wondering what is going to happen next. These credits also kind of tell a story into the rest of the film and you can't wait to see more. There is a whole genre for different credit so you can tell strait away from these credits It's going to be a tense, dramatic and scary film. I can't wait to watch the rest of the film on Wednesday's lesson!

Media Terms And Definitions

Here is a clip which I must know all of the definition as it will help me in my exam.

Introducing AS Media

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Jaws shot by shot analysis

Jaws

This shot by shot analysing of Jaws is a perfect example of what a shot by shot analysis should be like. In comparison to mine 'Drag Me to Hell' the Jaws one was far better. I noticed that each shot didn't have to include to much writing just the main facts. In my analysis i did write quite an in depth analysis on each shot; which I've realised wasn't to necessary. Also the use of more technical language used in this analysis which I must include next time I do similar projects to this.
In the Jaws analysis there were allot of clips compared to mine; which showed each different shot. All these I must include to get my shot by shot analysis up to this standard.

Jaws Shot By Shot - Part 1

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Impact and nessecity of opening title sequence. (Art of The Title)

Credits

I found this website very good and useful for media. From this website I've learnt that the first few minutes of a film need to be exciting and gripping to grab the audiences attention or they will assume the rest of the film will bore them.
Also that the opening credits need to be imaginative as the first few minutes are vital.
It also talked about how many credits can tell a story:



I found these opening credits on this website especially imaginative and exciting, my group are thinking about coming up with something similar.


This is the link to the website which includes directors research and their interviews:
http://www.school-video-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=453:the-art-of-the-title-sequence&catid=44:edit-post-production&Itemid=111

Also here is a another link to 'The Art Of the Title Sequence.'
www.artofthetitle.com

final peice on plenimary task. (video) and observations and critisms.

Final video

In today's lesson we started to analyse everybody feed back on the class's preliminary exercises. I decided to take notes on every ones so we wouldn't make any mistakes. One of the main mistake I realized was the way the camera was positioned on certain takes of peoples clip; for example their head was cut of which is something our group must look out for in our film and when we are filming.
Also the technical difficulties with audio allot of groups had. I'm taking into account that we can't aways rely on technical equipment. Many groups had the distraction of background noise which ruined parts of the clip. Also taking extra shots and longer shots will hopefully allow us to edit our film to our satisfaction.

Here is our final and edited preliminary task:




The class came up with some criticisms that we could improve for next time:

*The class noticed the continuity and how some of the transitions were not as smooth; I've learnt it is very hard to get everything exact.
*some of the audio was cut of so next time we must take as much footage as possible if we decide to use dialogue
*Danielle's head was cut of in some shots so we need to position the camera so we have a wider area of film.


We will have keep these in mind for filming out two minute film so we don't make the same mistakes twice.

Editing pleminary task and observations while editing. & storyboards

In today's lesson I started to edit our preliminary exercises on Imovie.
It was very funny looking back on our film and how many faults we had; luckily they can be edited out! I have no regrets in what we chose to do for the task; as we had allot of enjoyment doing it. A few groups had already finished editing their tape and was on YouTube! I aim get ours uploaded by next lesson' hopefully. So far we are about half way through which is very good!
I also am looking forward to shooting our actual film!
Watching other group's preliminary exercise made me realise there were many things I had to learn from before me group and I actually start filming our two minute film. I've realised it is actually quite difficult to get the audio in time with the clip. The preliminary was only about 20 seconds and it's already taken us a day to edit half; so its going to take up an enormous amount of time editing to get our film spot on.
I've also learnt that when filming our actual film we'll have to take as much footage as possible; also making sure we know which take Is which scene. This will make the editing process much easier so we won't have to go back an find each section.

On our preliminary we had a story board to follow which is here. (This is the original):



From looking at this story board I've noticed it has changed to our ideas now; so in the actual film we'll have to create an in depth storyboard and follow it. This will make filming much easier as you can refer back to it and know exactly where you are.

Hope fully our pleminary task will be up shortly!

Shooting our pleminary task.

Script

Last lesson my group and I made our preliminary task. Danielle and I decided to act; whilst Patricia filmed; At the start it took quite a few takes to start it of as we were singing sponge bob square pants which was quite hilarious. I think it went quite well and I am excited to start editing; also to see how we looked! We learnt that you don't have to film the scenes in chronological order ad you can edit them our later on; this often makes filming allot easier I gathered.
Our preliminary exercise consisted of the song sponge bob square pants:

Danielle: Are you ready kids
Me: I I Captain.
Danielle: I can't hear you.
Me: I I Captain
Danielle: OHHHHHHH
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
Me: Sponge Bob Square pants!
Danielle: Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!
Me: Sponge Bob Square Pants!
Danielle: If nautical nonsense be something you wish!
Me: Sponge Bob Square Pants!
Danielle: Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!
Me: Sponge Bob Square Pants!

Here is a copy of our story board:



Last lesson was the first time we really did anything like this so it was definitely a learning experience but most of all enjoyable.
We had to follow the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and over the shoulder.
Next time we film our group should have a more in depth story board of what is going on as it makes it easier to film.

Analysing camera shots.

.

'Drag Me To Hell.'

The first incite you get to knowing its a horror film is when a skull is directly placed in the middle of the screen in front of a dark background with horror music; then fades away into the background. The credits have white writing and a black background to give a spooky/horror themed effect.


.
First opening shot

This first shot is a very wide shot showing us the surroundings, but also focusing on the house; then a pan shot is fit in. This is a good idea as is connects the audience to the first scene as this scene is really where you start to understand the storyline. The house as the first shot gives a spooky feeling as it interacts with the horror/thriller music; this makes the audience feel sceptical to what will happen in future.



The thrid shot is a low angle shot. This shot was used here to emphasise the building to make it look more scarey as it also fits in with the dramatic music. The shot is also taken from a horizontal line which makes an impact on the building as it is made to look scary and spookey; whereas if the shot was taken form a strait line with romantic music fixed in this wouldn't make the audience feel scared.



The fourth shot then goes on to a wide shot; this is used here to establish a good action for the characters and also so the audience absorb the surroundings. Within the wideshot it also leads onto a over the shoulder/ two shot. Action is about to open here as the music is very tense at this point and the characters are rushing around.

Research into the beggining of a film.

'Drag me to hell'

I chose to look at the first minutes of 'Drag me to hell' because I find the opening very realistic and tense. The opening of this film starts with a country side house with dramatic music so this creates tension for the audience as you know something is about to unravel. The first scene involves a young boy stealing a bracelet from a gypsy and the dire, hell-dragging consequences that follow.
It perfectly sets the scene for what is to follow...
'Uncompromising horror heaven.'
Also giving an idea to the audience about the story line of the film so people understand. I hate watching films where you don't understand the story line; so this gives an insight of what is about to unravel.