AS Media Production

Evaluation

2010-02-27T03:01:00.000-08:00

At the start of the course our group didn't work as a good team and didn't know each other that well. but towards the end when we began to learn new things about media and the filming industry, we attached a better understanding of the subject itself. This able us to know what we were doing which prevents arguments and mistakes for example, filming, using equipment, editing and so on. Also towards the end when we were coming closer to our deadlines, we got our head down and tried our best to produce the best work of our ability. Therefore in result we have come across many obstacles and missions but finally we had completed every task given and was able to produce a good product at the end.

Final Filming (Diary)

2010-02-25T02:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday - 5-7 (checking out location, preparing for filming)
Tuesday - 6-9 (filmed first shot, walking down hallway stairs)
Wednesday - 10:30 - 7 (filmed all shots at location in handsworth wood. shot bloody tools at ismails house)
Thursday - 6-8:30 ( filmed nightmare shots)
Sunday - 6-8 (Filmed shots with mother leaving)

Final Filming (Actors and Job Roles)

2010-02-24T02:17:00.001-08:00

Actors:

Serial Killer, Jake Aston
Mother of Serial Killer Heffea Parvey

Job Roles:

Director, Tom Westmoreland
Camera Man, Tom Westmoreland, Ismail khan
Sound Man, Ismail Khan
Editing Video, Tom Westmoreland, Jake Aston
Sound Editing, Ismail Khan

Final Filming (Equipment)

2010-02-23T02:16:00.001-08:00

The equipment we would need to make this film is very basic but some items would be needed for example costumes, special effects, settings and so on. The equipment given by the college is:

Camera
Camera Tri-pod
Microphone
Headphones
Camera Bag
Camera Battery
Camera Charger

And the other equipment we have provided from our group is:

Fake blood / Tomato sauce (Serial Killer)
Big rain coat (Serial Killer)
Welly boots (Serial Killer)
Ragged up shirt (Serial Killer)
Dark black Genes (Serial Killer)
Many sorts of weapons and tools (Serial Killer)
Big Suitcase full of clothes (Mother)
No specific costume except coat and jeans (Mother)

Final Filming (Loctions)

2010-02-23T02:15:00.001-08:00

The Filming locations we chose to do our film was in three different sites. The first site was at Toms house which is in Great Barr. The second site was in my (Ismail) house which is also in Great Barr and finally the third site was in handsworth which was a building where I use to work at. Below I will give more details and these three locations and explain why i chose this location.

The first location, Great Barr at Toms house, was needed to get the part of the film where the serial killer has a nightmare of his past. But this location was not vital due to the fact that the only parts that will be recorded was a top view of the killer lying on his bed. There was nothing else showing in the room except the pillow and bed therefore this scene can be done at the other two locations in case this Toms house isn't available at the time. But overall the main reason we chose this site was because we were all able to reach this destination easily therefore it was be less stressful and time consuming when organising the group to meet up at this place. But there was no specific setting needed for this film therefore this did not matter.

The second location, Great Barr at my house (Ismail), will be used to get the scene of the actual dream of where the mom leaves the serial killer when he was a baby. Firstly the dream will take place in one of the bedrooms. The bedroom looks cheap and modern therefore the audience can tell that the mother of the baby is slightly poor and untidy. This will help show the audience that the serial killer has come from an unhealthy background. This location would defiantly be available but if there was to be a problem we could use Toms house to record these scenes. But the only problem we would face would be getting a actor for the mothers part.

The third location was in a house where I use to work at. This house is three floors high and has been converted into flats by a house developer, but they never got around to finishing it therefore the place looks very creepy and spooky which would help establish the scene and atmosphere of the scene. The scenes that would takes place here is when the killer walks down the stairs which leads to the basement after having his nightmare. In the basement the killer will look at his weapons with blood all over it which establishes in the film that he is a killer. This scene is vital to get correct because if we were to make a mistake some how then the message wouldn't get across to the audience that well. The problem with this location is that there are some days where the house could be under construction therefore there may be days where we won't be able to record at this location which would result to major loss of time. Also in this location we will record the killer walking down the basement towards were he keeps all his weapons and equipment. This particular setting is very creepy and untidy therefore it would help establish the mood and theme.

Main Developed Idea For a Horror Film Development

2010-01-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

Our first, and so far most developed idea is a horror film based around a masked serial killer, the film follows a psychopathic male in his mid 30's who's condition was brought on after his mother walked out on him as a child. The character suffered mental scarring throughout his teenage years which was added to by school bullies picking on him for his weird nature, he often has nightmares taking him back to the point of his life when his mother walked out on him and wakes up left in a rage which he struggles to control. The first sign of his illness was picked up by a teacher worried about his sudden lack of progression in his school work, he had also noticed that he was an unpopular student and was very much a lone wolf. The teacher advised him psychiatric treatment to build on his social life which he rejected without thought. The character kept a diary throughout school and regularly updated it with hateful messages aimed at fellow classmates. Although deemed weird he had an outward appearance of a calm and harmless nature which is why he was considered an 'easy' target for bullies. As a teenager he picked up an unhealthy obsession with serial killer Ted Bundy who killed what was believed to be around 100 victims. Bundy strangled his victims and later used various hospital tools to bludgeon them, our character imitated these techniques (copycat killer). Ted Bundy was almost a role model to him. His (character) victims were usually in their 20's with long purple/ red hair and a slim build, these targets resembled his mothers appearance at the time he last saw her. The murders occurred in depressive episodes following the nightmares of being abandoned as a child. The film will end with one of the killers victims managing to escape from his grasp and calling the police. When the police arrive the killer is left hiding in a barn surrounded by police but whether he is captured is left out in the open. We decided to end it on a cliffhanger so the audience are left feeling tense and answering questions themselves. This also leaves it open to a sequel film which can be decided depending on the success of this film.

Summary of Four Film Ideas (Pitch)

2010-01-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

On friday Tom and Ismail (me) had to pitch four film ideas to the class, jake had turned up late to the lesson so me and Ismail had to present with only three of our ideas. The pitch ran fairly smoothly although the main point of our chosen story didnt cross over to the class well. Maybe this was because we were slightly unprepared and i'd left my notes on the blog. We were pleased that the class had some useful feedback on the ending to our story because we were debating whether our killer would be caught or remain on the loose for a cliff hanger type finish. They suggested that the murdered remained on the loose to for a climax to the story rather than simply getting caught.

In all the pitch didnt go so well, but the knowledege we gained from the classes opinions could prove to be a huge help to our storyline, so in one way it could be deemed a success. If we were ever to do this task again, we learn't that to ensure the task is completed to the full potential that was expected, we should get more prepared and organised. And we can not have any major mess ups due to the fact that one of the member is late or away from lesson and contains the work that is needed for the lesson. Therefore to prevent this we should make sure that we come on time, but for any reason if it is not possible to come to lesson, then the person should notify his partners before the lesson and give him a copy of the work needed. But, hopefully the group has relised there mistake and this inccident would never happen again.

Basic Four Ideas of Horror Films

2010-01-16T02:00:00.000-08:00

1.) Haunted Island

A group of mates decide to go on a holiday to explore a Caribbean island. They have some people that tour them around the island. While they were exploring the island, they come across a part of the island that has a barrier around it with signs on it saying 'DO NOT ENTER, DANGER!'. They all become very curious and want to go and see what is behind these barriers, because it is pretty unusual to have barriers in a abandoned island. The tour guider tells them they can't go across and forces them to go back to the camp site. At midnight the group decide to sneak out so they can see what the barriers are blocking. When they cross the barriers and explore the place, they realise that there is nothing interesting there. But when they turn back they don't know which way they came. Therefore they are lost and look around to try and get back to the camp. When they make a move back, they will hear a someone screaming and chanting behind the brushes and trees and when this happens, one of the people in the group would mysteriously go missing. This happens continuously till the girl is left. Then later on the journey back, they would see that the group member that went missing would be either hanged up on trees, brutally slaughtered or body parts scattered around the area with chunks missing from them as if someone was eating the person. The girl who is the last one remaining fights her way out and finally meets back at the camp but then she sees that the camp has been destroyed and there is no one there. Then right at the end a spear is thrown at her which goes through her stomach which just leaves her dead on the floor.

2.) Abandoned

A middle aged man who's mother walked out on him as a child. He is very unsociable and has no friends due to his strange nature. He was always picked on at school and became a very angry and lonely boy. Now in his 30's he keeps having dreams of when his mother walked out on him as a child and waking up crying and in a panic. It all becomes too much for him and he goes out on the attack brutally murdering women that look similar to his mom. He stalks women that look like his mother and puts up pictures of them in his basement, and one by one he murders the women, crossing them off his list as he goes along.

3.) Killer Cruise

A group of six friends win a free cruise trip online. They were six excited but vulnerable people and when their ship stops off at an island for the day it all went horribly wrong for them. They got off expecting to explore the island and spend a hot day drinking and sunbathing, but this didn't occur. The ship took off leaving them stranded and without food or drink. This was not the end of their worries though as evil tribe folk that rule the island come out hunting them to slay them and eat them. They are in a race against time trying to stay alive avoiding being murdered and being the tribe folks dinner long enough till they can get off the island.

4.) When Ouija Board Goes Bad

Some youths aged 18 to 20 throw a party and towards the night one person pulls out a Ouija Board and persuades everyone to play it. Some people freak out and decide to leave the party, others want to play it to prove that its a fake and nothing spiritual will happen. When they begin to play the game, nothing happens so the leave the game and carry on with the party. Then all of a sudden the glass on the Ouija Board starts to move on its own. Someone sees this and tells everyone, they all begin to put there hands back on the glass to see what happens. The spirit talking through the Ouija Board begins to play games with the people such as giving them dares to do and telling embarrassing secrets. At the start its all jokes and fun, but then when a girl told the spirit that she isn't going to do the dare that was given to her, this upsets the spirit and makes him angry. All of a sudden they all are trapped in the room and all the doors are jammed. The people try to open them but it was impossible. Then the spirit gives orders to the people to torture the girl who denied the dare in order to get out the house. Then different sorts of tools begging to appear on the Ouija Board. Everyone gets freaked out and the girl grabs a knife and runs to the corner threatening anyone that came near her. Then the glass moves on its on and gives another order telling the people to kill each other and the last person standing can leave the house. One person tries to phone someone for help but then his reception goes up and down as if the spirit was messing around with it. Then the group pick up a weapon each with some people left out with no weapons. But no one has tried to kill anyone yet. The spirit then tells them that they got 30 minutes left till they are locked in for ever. Then they all panic and start screaming at each other then the girl who denied the dare at the start gets the knife and cuts he throat which leaves her dead on the floor.

Our Continuity Piece

2010-01-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Here is what we produced from our short clip to demostrate some basic rules of filming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0w8E5boqnc

Business Data for the Horror Genre

2009-12-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

In 2008 28 horror films were released, bringing in a gross box office take in of 23.4 million. The top performer was Saw V. The horror genre had 126 sites at widest point of release from 28 films, only 5 per cent of films released in 2008 were horror though. Horror films are classified as "15" or "18". The majority of films released in 2008 were certificate "15", 193/527; there were only 51 "18's" released. Certificate "18" films have been consistently the lowest earner, with Sweeney Todd being the best performer of 2008.

Certificates are issued by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). In their opinion the film, video or game should not be seen or purchased by a person under 18 years old. The 18 certificate was only created in 1982. For a film to be classified as an 18 in will contain some of the following; hard drug use, supernatural horror, explicit sex, sadistic violence and sexual violence.Until recently sexual violence and sadistic violence were not even issued a certificate and were seen as not acceptable. According to the BBFC website no drugs promotion is tolerated, only films showing effects of drug misuse are given a classification. The use of bad language in films depends on the language being used; mild bad language could be given a certificate 15 but frequent bad language will be classified as an 18.Natural nudity is allowed for all classification levels, with sexual content resulting in more restrictive classifications.If the theme to the film is racial, sexual, paedophilia, drugs or violence it may be classified as a 15 but in most cases will be given certificate 18.

Horror Genre Conventions

2009-12-02T05:45:00.000-08:00

Analysis (Questionnaire)

2009-12-02T05:02:00.000-08:00

Analysis

Introduction:

For this part of the research we had done a questionnaire which contained nine questions. In total we asked thirty different people. The reason why we chose to do so many people, was so that we would get a bigger range of answers. So we can see many different peoples opinions.

What questions did the questionnaire contain:

1. How old are you? 18-21 [ ] 22-26 [ ] 27-30 [ ] 30+ [ ]

2. What gender are you? Male [ ] Female [ ]
3. What is your favourite genre of film? Romanic Comedy [ ] Horror [ ] Thriller [ ]
4. What do you enjoy about this genre?
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5. Do you what horror movies? Yes [ ] No [ ] (If yes please continue)
6. What do you enjoy about horror movies?
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7. Do you go to cinema to watch horror movies or what them at home? Cenima [ ] Home [ ]
8. What is your favourite horror sub genre? Zombie horror [ ] Comedy horror [ ] Cannibal horror [ ] Ghost horror [ ]
9. What type of characters to you expect to see in a horror movie?
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Pridiction:

As a group, we all predicted that the age between 18-21 would prefer the genre horror and the sub genre comedy horror. Where as the age above 21 would prefer Romantic comedy or Thriller. Another pridiction made was that overall, more people would prefer watching movies at the cinemas, rather than at home. Last of all the reason why people would like a horror movie was because of the scary and horrific scenes with all the killings and murders.

Results:

1. How old are you?

Here it shows that the majority of people that answered our questionnaire was between the ages of 18-21 where as 30+ was the lowest. The reason for why so many people were ages 18-21 was due to the fact that the questionnaire was given out around the college, and this is the age you would expect to see around the college, except for the one off older student and teachers.

2. What gender are you?

The most common gender we asked to do our questionnaire was female.

3. What is your favourite genre of film?

The genre Horror was most preffered and Thriller was the least popular from the people who filled in out questionnaire. The main factor of people preferring horror rather than the other genres is because there are many horror films out there to watch and the effects of watching a horror film can be very entertaining to the audience out there due to the thrills and 'seat jumping' scenes.

4. What do you enjoy about this genre?

For this questions people replied:

Romantic Comedy - They enjoyed the romance, the funny jokes, nice romantic scenes and jolly music. It also puts them in a happy energietic mood.

Horror - Most mentions that they enjoyed the scary and horrific scence which had proved one of our predictions. They also said it gives them a good scare and especially like it when it makes them jump out of their seats.

Thriller - They enjoyed the storylines, plots and the characters used in the film. But they specially liked the action, weapons and cars in the film.

5. Do you watch horror movies?

As you can see, there is a huge mojority of people who answered yes for this questions. This shows us that many people would want to watch a horror movie. The reasons why they had prefered to watch a horror movie would be shown on the next question.

6. What do you enjoy about horror movies?

For this question most people answered the same as they said in question 4 for the horror part. But the people who didn't answer 'horror' for question 4 but also watch horror movies was going along the same lines saying they like the horriffic scenes and the fact that some parts makes them jump out their seats and literally gives them butterflies in their belly.

7. Do you go to the cinema to watch horror movies or watch them at home?

The pie chart shows us that the majority of people watch their movies at a cinema. Even though the results for cinema and home were very close, it still proves another of our predictions which was most people prefer to watch their movies at the cinemas. The reason why they would proberly prefer the cinema would be because the screen is much bigger and the speakers are much louder. Therefore this would make the film more effective and enjoyable.

8. What is your favourite horror sub genre?

Most people prefer Zombie Horror than any other, the reason for this could be because a of the fact that zoombies could look most scary and evil towards the audience. The way a zombie looks like is a dead like human but with skin and flesh missing. These effects and features could be useful to us when making our character for the movie.

9. What type of characters to you expect to see in a horror movie?

For this question people replied in many different answers such as zombies, ghost, scary deformed killers, psychos, ugly alien like creatures and so on. But they all do have a thing in common. This is that they all have a great impact on the audience to give them a good scare which would also then make them enjoy the film more.

Conclusion:

From the results I have obtained from my research, it strongly shows that most of the audience would prefer to watch a horror movie than any other genre. It also shows me what they like about horror movies such as the gruesome scenes, horrific killers and so on. This is the reason why I carried out this research which was to see what sort of movie genres people liked and what they like about it.

Evaluation:

The research I carried out which was primary research and no data was taken of any sort of secondary data went well, but I believe it could have been done much better by many ways. The parts were it went well was that we were able to get 30 people to answer our questionnaire which would give us a wide range of answers and views. Also all of them answered all the questions and we didn't come across any time wasters which would have spoilt our research.

But the stuff that didn't go too well was that we had give the questionnaire to people who were aged 18 and above because this age is the target for our movie. But since we were asking people in college, this was very difficult to achieve therefore it took us very long to accomplish which resulted to time wasting and unable to get on with other research. Another problem was that although everyone had filled in all the questions they didn't write in much detail and only write one worded answers. This would not give us much information and help us out when it comes to making the movie. But this can not be controlled because this factor is one of the main disadvantages of using a questionnaire. Last of all the other problem we faced was that when we asked people to fill in the questionnaire, most of them was ages 18-21 but then there was only a couple for the other ages. This then would make the results more biased towards the 18-21 rather than the other people aged 22+, therefore the results can not be reliable if we were going to aim the movie at the age of someone who is ages above 22. This could have been controlled if we asked a certain amount of people from each age range to fill in the questionnaire. Then we would get a better and reliable research.

Overall we were still able to get some valid points and was able to see what could help us in our film and what the audience would be expecting and why they would expect this from a horror movie.

Understanding Basic Rules (Short Opening Sequence - 16 Novermber)

2009-11-16T04:09:00.000-08:00

Understanding Basic Rules

Introduction:

In my group there are three members including me. The other two members were Tom and Jake. She reason why I had chose this group was because the other members in the group lived local and we knew that there would be a point where we would have to do work outside college, therefore it would be easy to meet up.

We were given a task to make a short clip about one to two minutes long. In this clip it had to show that we understood some basic rules of filming. These rules and tasks were the following:

- Be able to use a camera and tripod

- Different type of Camera angles

- Match on action (Rule)

- Reverse shot (Rule)

- 180° (Rule)

Brief Discriptions of the Rules:

Match on action - Is where a action is taking place, but except for taking the one camera shot. Two or more can take place for the one action. For example the first shot would be a character lighting up a match, then the second shot would be the character putting the match towards his cigarette. This gives is a better and continuous effect.

Reverse shot - This rule can be used when two characters are having a conversation. For example when one person speaks, the camera would be looking towards him but behind the person he is speaking to. This allows the veiwers to see who he is speaking to. Then when the other person speaks, the camera would go to the other side. This is a useful and prevents the viewers getting bored.

180° - Could occur when there are two characters having a conversation. The way this works is preety simple. If you were to image a line going through the characters. This helps as a guidline to avoid breaking this rule. Then when recording the characters, you can only stay on one side of the line throughout the whole scene. If you were to break this rule, it would seem if the character was jumping in different places which would result so confusing the audience.

What Went Well in Our Task:

In the group the other two members never had hand to hand experience with using the camera, were as I had a year experience when i did my level 1 Btec in Media. Therefore they decided to let me do the camera work and the other two did the acting. Three members was just right to get this task done. We had showed our understanding of the the rules well in the film used many different camera shots such as long shot, mid shot, mid close-up and close-up. We even panned and tilted the camera in some shots. Now we have completed this task and did have many ups and downs but we still got result at the end.

What Went Bad in Our Task:

There were many things that went wrong in our task. The main reasons for this is because of our group getting the tapes to record on late. This was my mistake and hopefully this won't happen again. The other problems we came across was that we had done some practice shots and recorded them so we knew how it would come out like. But when we play it back on the camera, it messes up the shots which had old bits coming onto the final piece. Therefore we had to erase the whole thing and start from the beggining. We could not edit this because there was no time to take it to the editting rooms and also the quality of the camera the college had given us were not the best around and the editing facility on it was preety poor.

How Can We Improve This:

If I was to do this task again, I would make the group more organised therefore no time would be wasted. We could also use my own camera which would have better quality and easier edditing facility. And next time we would need to rehearse more to get it spot on. But overall the main bits that went down was the software and facilities, but as a group we fully understood the basic rules and had demonstrated it well in our filming. And as they say, you can only learn from your mistakes to get better at anything.

Infected (Analysis 3 Thriller)

2009-11-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

Infected

The film cover for this film creates a good impression towars the audience. And is gives good detail of what the film would be about by only usings one main image and a sentence below the tittle. The image is a person who looks deformed like and dead like. The title of the film is also deformed and not bold. This goes along with the theme of the cover. Below the sentence it says, How can you kill what is part of you. This sentence is short but has a strong effect towards the audience. It makes them curious and begin to question what the film would be about which then results to them wanting to watch the film.

The film Infected starts of with a clip which looks like the news. Along with this is the credits on top with a normal bold font. They have done the opening credits on top of a clip so they can straight away introduce the film to the audience, rather than showing the opening credits with a blank background. Since this is done fast, the audience can see that this clip must be on about something stressful and bad. The way you can see that is is a news clip is because of what it says on the top left corner which is 'TV 14 LV'. This has been done for a reason to let the audience know what the clip is. And in this shot is some people with some surgeon masks on there mouth. Along with this is someone speaking who is talking about diseases and infections which hints to the audience what the film is going to be about.

The next shot is some different forms of water which is in a glass, water being sprayed on the fields, poured onto fruits, little girls drinking from the fountain and so on. This also is telling the audience what the film is about. And as you can see it is about the water getting infected causing diseases for people.

After this the next scene contains a long shot of a organic farm industry. This has been done in a long shot with text on the bottom left to establish the scene and were it would be taking place. Following on from this is a close-up on a person looking through a telescope into this place. This is showing the audience that there is something odd happening at this place and the character is curious in this place.

They then begin to show a part where there is a guard walking around the building. And with this is a voice describing the plan to get into this place. When the guard is being recorded, the camera shot chosen is a mid close-up with a low angle to display his high authority.

After there is a bit where a small remote control truck goes towards a open unit. For this scene there is a tracking shot taken to show the trucks view and where it is going. The truck heads into the unit and a explosion takes place within one and a half minutes into the film. These sort of gadgets and explosions is what you would expect from a thriler film.

When the explosion goes off, the camera then shows people running away. The camera shot chosen for this part is panning with which shakes to the left and right to show the emotion of the characters in the film which is shock and terrified. It then goes back to the woman with the telescope. This shows the audience that the explosion has something to do with her. The camera shot used on the women was a close up on her face. This has been done to show her emotions and how she had reacted to the explosions. But she looks calm as if she was expecting the bomb to go off.

All this has happened in the first couple minutes of the film and it has clearly defined what type of film and genre is by using very good techniques. These main techniques was to show a clip while the credits were going. So it gives a small introduction on what the film is about right at the start. This is similar to the first horror analysis i did. The other techniques was using sound and camera shots to show the audience what will happen and also using the camera shots to show who the people are. This would be very effective if i was to use it in a film with any genre. Because the techniques used could have a little twist in them so that the other genres could fit into it.

B.T.K (Analysis 2 Horror)

2009-11-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

B.T.K

As you can see, the film poster made for B.T.K is very terrifying. The way they have created this effect is by making the title bike and bold with red colour. Also in the background is a person who plays in the opening of the film. He looks stress and worrid along with the his face all dirty and sweaty. This helps show the audience what the film would be about. And you can also recognise it is a horror film just by the cover.

The film B.T.K starts of with very plain opening credits which is normal Basic fonts with the text colour white and the background black. There is also a music being played which is sort of calm and slow. This isn't what you expect from a horror film, but they properly had done this to get the audience curious in why they have done it like this, to help build suspense. It also could represent the supernatural because of the white font. The opening credits only go on for about forty seconds which is normal.

The first scene in the film, there is a building shown which has been recorded at a low camera angle which makes the building look taller and a bit creepy. Then a corridor is shown but in a unbalanced angle were the camera is tilted anti-clockwise. Along with this is a man standing in the middle on his own. This has been done to the give the scene a bit weird and scary effect.

After this the man walks towards the camera and enters the door to the left. The camera shot took when showing him is constantly at a low angle. This has been done to represent his high authority and you can also see this by the shirt and security badge he is wearing. But he is also carrying a big black bad which gets the audience curious to why he is carrying this black bag and what is in it. Along this the music is playing as well but has gone much louder and faster now. This is building up suspense and also shows the audience that the character is tensed at the time. In the film this person then walks into the room and lies down on his bed. He then gets undress and calls a prostitute to come to his apartment or hotel room.

He then goes to sleep on the bed as he waits. But then a sharp noise comes up along with a extreme close-up on his eye. He then looks around the room to see if anything there. But then the music gets even louder which makes this moment even more tense. He then gets up and looks out the window. This scene is really bright because of the sun establish what time of day it is, but then the room is really dark which makes it look a bit odd.

The start of the film does not contain many rules and conventions a horror film would have at the start. But it does sort of have a creepy and depressing effect towards the audience which would make them anxious and curious. But it won't work well in showing the audience that it is a horror film and not a thriller, therefore i would not be using many of these technique in my film.

Return To House On Haunted Hill (Analysis 1 Horror)

2009-11-15T12:28:00.000-08:00

Return To House On Haunted Hill

Below is how the film cover looks like for this film. This cover has been created well and can be recognised as a horror film. The way they have done this is by applying images in a way to repersent fear. As you can see there is a hand in the center which has been made out off different people and scenes in the film. But she hand is in a dark gloomy colour and has some liquid dripping off the tips of the fingers. Straight away you know this is blood because of the background being in a red colour. Also the title is placed in the center which has been done in a bold blocked letters. But the size of the fone is different for each word. This has been done to make some words such as house, haunted, hill to stand ouch which gives the viewers a small intro of what the film is about.

In the start of the film, there are some opening credits displayed. These credits are shown in a small writing but in a strong red colour with the black background. When the frame goes to the next credits screen, the text dissolves away, allowing the next credits to be seen. After the credits some pictures come up which are disturbing and horrific. Which then follows off with more credits and other images. All this happens within two and a half minutes which is long for the opening credits. And in this time they have already defined what sort of genre the film is. The way they have done this is by choosing the colour as red an black for the credits which would represent darkness and danger, then when the images are displayed, it gives a shock to the audience which shows them a little intro of what the films about. And since the images were disturbing and looks like the woman is terrified and the other image with the scissors and blood shows that someone has been attacked. Then the film must be a horror.

At the same there there is some music playing which is loud and high pitched with some screaming in it. And as it goes on, the music goes louder. This makes the audience extremely tensed and terrified.

When the first scene of the films comes up, there is a shot where a empty bedroom is shown but has been edited as in a black and white theme to add the creepy effect. Then the colour goes back to normal and a alarm is displayed to show what time it is. It says five which must be in the morning because the woman walks in after having her shower and dresses up.

As you can see within the first three minutes, the film has shown that it is a horror really strong. And the techniques used are good and effective. But the only problem was that the credits were long which would distract the audience. But still in the credits they showed some images that gave a intro on what the film is about. Therefore over all these techniques would be useful if i was to use if i was to use it on my film with a horror genre.

Task 2: Research into Existing Products (Romantic Comedies)

2009-11-11T05:50:00.000-08:00

Romantic Comedies

Introduction:

Romantic Comedies are known for there sense of humorous plot lines, but with a nice romantic story to go along with it. A typical film would have a man and women who would love each other at first sight. But they would have to face different obstacles and challenges to gain each others love.

The basic conventions in a Romantic Comedy:

The main conventions would be things such as cheerful music with beautiful relaxing settings such as the countryside, beach, holidays, churches and so on. This helps set the audience in a happy calm mood and makes them want to watch on.

When looking at the characters, they would also be happy all the time. But the man who is the main character could be a bit odd out from the rest which sort of puts him out the group. So when he tries to win the girls love, he has to battle his way through the other people.

This main character would also face many other obstacles such as the girls parents, class difference such as the girl could be a lower class than him or the girl could already be with someone else. But in some films there would be a woman playing this roles but its most common a man playing this role.

The main attraction towards romantic comedy films is that how the man is going to win his love with the girl. This is the main reason why the audience would prefer to watch this film and in some cases they might even want to picture their life like this.

Below is screenshots of a film called, Women in trouble. This is a very propular romantic comedy film and contains all the conventions you would expect from this genre. There are many women who star in this film, but they all have something in common. This it woman who stars in it is very preety and stunning. But they look as if they are reaching their middle age.

These women would try a find their love of there life but they would always get a problem which they try to avoid. For example the women below loves this man, but she has a major obstacle were this man already has someone else. And she is worried she might get caught. There would also be some scence which is very upsetting and sad.

But at the end they would always find their perfect match after going through so much pain and problems. When this moment comes in the film, it would show that life starts to get better and more relaxed. This is the reason why the viewers would want to watch romantic comdies due to them hoping that their own life would turn out like this. This is the main effect the film producers would want to give.

Examples of Romantic Comedies:

As you can see the film covers are colourful and eye catching. There title and captions are big and bold. They all also give a little intro of the film such in, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, you can already see who the main character is who is trying to win someone love which it the person on the right. And the person who he loves is the girl in the red clothes which follows on as his first obstacle which is to get rid of the man on the left. Also the text is in two different colours which is blue and pink. These colours repersent the male and female gender because these colours are most prefered by that gender and would suit them. This would make both genders comfortable in watching this film. It is important on how you locate the images and text to get the right message across. The other thing is that the bankground in all of them is white. This makes the film look plain, simple and wouldn't counfuse the viwers in thinking that it is a horror or thriller film. It also it makes the pictures and text stand out.

Task 2: Research into Existing Products (Horror)

2009-11-06T03:47:00.000-08:00

Horror Conventions

Introduction:

The history of the film genre 'horror' has been spread out for over a century. it had first started in the late 1890s where the film industry had literally just began. As you know the technology in those days were really low, therefore there wasn't as much special effects or fancy editing that we have in our days. But even then, the films still gave the audience a thrill due to the fact that no one had seen this sort of film before and was totally new to them.

Later horror film were introduced into the film theatre were it was mostly preferred to be watched because of the big screens and speakers which had a great effect on how the audience were getting more terrified.

Towards the early 1930s, the company 'Universal' started to make horror films such as the Gothic types like Dracula, Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Even now these films are still successful and have had made different versions made by other film industries.

But when the horror film really got effective was during the 1950s and onwards where there was a big advance in technology. The films started to move away from Gothic and started with a new style which was three different sort. This was horror-of-personality, horror-of-armageddon and the horror-of-the-demonic films. During this time there was also many low budget films made which included aliens invading earth. These sort of films were very 'cheesy' but still was being enjoyed by the audience.

Later on from this, there has been many films made and have been extremely successful for example the 'Omen' which has been watched by millions over the world therefore there they had made in total 5 films which had followed each other in the story line and the exact same thing for many films such as Scream, Chucky, Halloween and so on. But there was one film made which took horror to the next level. This film is called The Exorcist. this film included the demonic nature and had some special effects which gave a audience a shocking fear. The director had made this film extremely carefully with all the conventions and rules of a horror film.

The Basic Conventions in a Horror:

The conventions you would see in the start of the film is extremely important on how it is done. The reason for this is that the start would set out the mood for the rest of the film. So in a horror film the start would normally have a music being played. this music could either be a fast beat and loud music which would get the audience anxious and tensed. Or either a slow music but with a weird sound which would also create the same effect for the audience. The opening credits theme would be different from other films as well. The credits font would be bold and in dark colours such as red or grey with a white background to make it stand out. Below shows what some typical horror films opening credits would look like. And as you can see, the most common credits would be in the colours red and black. This is done to make the text look as if it has been written in blood and looks a bit gruesome. This and the music piece put together is enough for the audience to recognise it's a horror film.

The first scene in a horror film would vary on what the film is about. But there are some conventions that you would see in some horror film. For example some films may start with the ending of the story. And in this scene there might be some freakish nature where there is blood everywhere or either someone who looks like they have been injured or even dead. So this instantly show the audience what the film is going to be about. But then this will causes the audience to get curious and want to watch on. So to reveal what happened in this scene, they would go back to the past and then tell the story from the start.

Horror films are always set in dark mysterious places where you would not see much people around. For example the woods, forest, bigs houses isolated in the countryside and so on. And the time of day would most commonly be at night where the weather is gloomy, fog and raining. This also helps set the mood for the film which would be extemely strong and depressing effect towards the audience. This is extemly important on how the first scene is set out in location, settings and atmosphere. Because if it was to be set on a sunny morning in a busy city, then this would give no hint towards the audience that it is a horror film. Below shows how some typical horror settings would look like.

You would also find that in a horror film, their is always a lot of suspense built up during the film and as it goes towards the end, it gradualy gets bigger. This is done to make the viewers tense and scared, so when there is a scary horrific part, the viewers would react more to it. The way they would create this suspense is done by many different things such as, camera shots, sound, editing and setting.

For example the film 'Scream' there was a scene where the young girl gets a phone call from another person. The person on the phone is the actual killer in the film, but the audience dosn't know this at the particular moment. But what they do know is that there is something bad going to happen. Staight away this has got the audience curious about who is on the phone to this girl which has got them already glued to the screen trying to find out who is it. As the phone call goes on, the girl in the film is cooking popcorn. And as the phone call is goes on, the pop corn at the same time is getting bigger. And also when the girl hangs up, the person rings up again. This also is hinting out that something will happen eventually. The way sound has been used in this clip is when the pop corn is getting bigger you can also hear poping a crackling which is getting louder and louder. The camera shots also help out such as when she walks around trying to find out if anyones out side, the camera is tooking at a long shot so the audience can see behind her aswell and look for if there is anything there. But at this stage the edditing is vital because when the suspense and tension gets higher the camera shots are changing faster. The audience at this stage would be extemly tensed and anxoius. So now in the film the killer would jump out of no where which would extemly terrify the audience, even though they knew it was coming. As you can see this has a extemly good effect towards the viewers therefore this is vital when making a horror film.

The characters you would find in a horror film would most likely be very simular to other films. These charectors you would always find would be:

The big bully: this character is very big and strong. He is agressive towards the other people. But when it comes down to it, the killer would bruitually kill him which shows the audience that the killer in the film is stronger than anyone out there.

The crazy girl: she would be the odd one out the group. And her style would also be odd out to the rest, for example a goth. She would do weird things and would freak out the rest of the people in the film. As you can see below, she is lighting her tounge with a lighter. She would also try to act brave, but she really is a weak character and is terrified of the killer.

The inocent girl: This character would be very quiet, carm and wouldn't even hurt a fly. She is the one that the whole group would push around. But when it comes down to it, she is the smartest there and proberly would be the last one standing.

Young attractive girl: This character would be very preety and stunning. But she wouldn't be the smartest one around at the start of the film. Then towards the end she becomes more smart and tries to defeat the killer. But then she would also be bruitually killed by the killer.

The actual killer: This is the main character of the film which everything evolves around him. The way this character would look extremly weird and something you have never seen before, but also would give you the chills when you look at him. For example, below this character is wearing a worn out mask to hide his identity, his hair is ruff and his clothes are ragged up. As you can see this person dosn't look normal at all and does have a creepy effect towards the audience.

Over all the characters chosen for the film are very steriotype and common. And they seem to be the same age and trend that the audience would be. This would make the audience enjoy the film more and feel more interactive with the film.

Task 2: Research into Excisting Products (Thriller)

2009-10-23T01:21:00.000-07:00

Thriller Conventions

Introduction:

The film genre, thriller has been around for many years and is the most common genre in our days. The main reason for why the audience may prefer thriller is because some may fantasise about being the hero or could just enjoy the action in the film. There has even been many documentaries made about the genre thriller and even some of the best thriller movies made.

Typical Conventions Found in Thriller:

A thriller genre is extremely easy to pick out is most films. This is because at the first three minutes of the film you would be able to pick out were there might be some suspense being built up or even something mysterious happening such has there has been a murder or someone may be looking a bit tense and anxious.

A typical thriller film may contain an exotic setting such as foreign cities, polar regions, high seas and deserts. This would help build up the story and atmosphere towards what the audience is imaging that what the films about. This would then make them enjoying the film much more. But the way these places are introduced would be a long shot but in some films it might have some text at the bottom which would say what the place is. You would most likely expect this in a film where there are spies in it.

There is mostly a role where there is a a typical hard man who tries to avoid danger and save everyone at the end. This is the main stereotype you would see in the film. He would have big muscles and would come across as tensed and angry. This man might play the following roles such as officers, spies, soldiers, seamen, or aviators. There could also be a women who he loves and in trying to save or may even be helping him. She would then be the other stereotype who would be beautiful and attractive, but then she would also be a strong dominant women. But over the time women have also been introduced into these roles which is pretty common these days.

In the film you would find many non-diegetic sounds which could be helicopter, sirens, explosions and so on. This helps introduce the scene for example if there was an action scene then you would hear many non-diegetic sounds to help build up the tension and atmosphere.

Another thing you would notice in an action scene is that the way the editing is done is peculiar to another sort of genre. Such as in the opening of the scene the shot change could be very calm and slow but then later in the film it would speed up. In an action scene there would be many different shots would could last up to two seconds long which helps the audience see that it is a tense moment. And at the end of the film it would then being to slow down again and be more calm.

The camera shots chosen in thriller have been done for a purpose to either get the message across to the audience of establish emotions, atmosphere and settings. For example, throughout the film you would see many sorts of camera shots but the main one to establish atmosphere and setting would be the long wide shot. This would cover vast amount of area which would let you know if there in a jungle or desert. So even from this you can tell what sort of genre it is. Another camera shot would be the close-up which helps show the audience how the characters are feeling. And in a thriller film they are most likely going to be angry, upset and tense.

Examples of Thriller Movies:

As you can see, all the movie posters have the same thing in common. This is that they all have a dark theme and they have people in it who look ruff, scared or angry. Straight away just by looking at the poster you can tell that it is a thriller film because of the dark theme, emotions and style used. This plays an important role because the poster / cover is the first thing the viewer would look at therefore is sets the mood of the film and they have a slight description of what the films about. Also below is some of the typical scenes of a thriller movie. They also look similar to the expressions given off from the movie posters. They have been placed in exotic places, and they all seem to look anger and frustrated.